COMPOSER

Composition Bios

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50 words

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​Composer Zoe Yost centers her artistic life at the crossroads.  Her compositions have been performed by artists including David Friend, Empire City Men’s Chorus, Attacca Quartet, Choral Chameleon, Eight Strings & a Whistle, and San Francisco Choral Artists.  She is working on commissions for Ensemble For These Times and Choral Chameleon.

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100 words

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A gritty, imaginative wayfinder, Zoe Yost centers her artistic life at the crossroads.  Her compositions have been performed by artists including David Friend, Attacca Quartet, Empire City Men’s Chorus, Choral Chameleon, Eight Strings & a Whistle, San Francisco Choral Artists, and members of the International Contemporary Ensemble.  Her trio, A Midsummer’s Daydream, was the winner of Eight Strings & a Whistle’s 2024 Composer Competition, and she was San Francisco Choral Artists’ June 2025 Composer in Residence.  She is working on active commissions for Choral Chameleon, for whom she is Composer in Residence for the 2026-27 season, and Ensemble For These Times.

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150 words

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A gritty, imaginative wayfinder, Zoe Yost centers her artistic life at the crossroads.  Recent composition projects include Houses of Eternity, commissioned by Empire City Men’s Chorus; Seal Lullaby, commissioned by San Francisco Choral Artists; Veils: A Symphonic Poem; and Three Pictures from Kīlauea for brass quintet.  Her compositions have been premiered by artists including David Friend, Attacca Quartet, Choral Chameleon, Eight Strings & a Whistle, San Francisco Choral Artists, and members of the International Contemporary Ensemble.  

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Yost is working on commissions for Choral Chameleon, for whom she is Composer in Residence for the 2026-27 season, and Ensemble For These Times.  Her Seven Scenes was performed by the Attacca Quartet at the 2026 TUTTI New Music Festival, and she was a finalist for the 2026 NATS Art Song Composition Award.  Yost is also a violist, commended for her “compelling and daring live performance” of Bartók’s Viola Concerto (San Francisco Classical Voice).

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200 words

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A gritty, imaginative wayfinder, Zoe Yost centers her artistic life at the crossroads.  Recent composition projects include Houses of Eternity, commissioned by Empire City Men’s Chorus; Seal Lullaby, commissioned by San Francisco Choral Artists; Veils: A Symphonic Poem; and Three Pictures from Kīlauea for brass quintet.  Her compositions have been performed by artists including David Friend, Empire City Men’s Chorus, Attacca Quartet, Choral Chameleon, Eight Strings & a Whistle, San Francisco Choral Artists, and members of the International Contemporary Ensemble.  Her trio, A Midsummer’s Daydream, was the winner of Eight Strings & a Whistle’s 2024 Composer Competition.  She was San Francisco Choral Artists’ June 2025 Composer in Residence and is working on commissions for Choral Chameleon, for whom she is Composer in Residence for the 2026-27 season, and Ensemble For These Times.  Her Seven Scenes was performed by the Attacca Quartet at the 2026 TUTTI New Music Festival, and she was a finalist for the 2026 NATS Art Song Composition Award.  

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Yost is also a violist, commended for her “compelling and daring live performance” of Bartók’s Viola Concerto (San Francisco Classical Voice).  She is also Artistic Director of the Lower Brandywine Choral Festival, a community choral program, and is a creative writer and visual artist. 

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250 words

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A gritty, imaginative wayfinder, Zoe Yost centers her artistic life at the crossroads.  Her voice springs from the integration of performance, composition, creative writing, and visual art. 

 

Recent composition projects include Houses of Eternity, commissioned by Empire City Men’s Chorus; Risen, commissioned by Newark United Methodist Church; Seal Lullaby, commissioned by San Francisco Choral Artists; Veils: A Symphonic Poem; and Three Pictures from Kīlauea for brass quintet.  Her compositions have been performed by artists including David Friend, Empire City Men’s Chorus, Attacca Quartet, Choral Chameleon, Eight Strings & a Whistle, San Francisco Choral Artists, and members of the International Contemporary Ensemble.  She was San Francisco Choral Artists’ June 2025 Composer in Residence and is working on commissions for Choral Chameleon, for whom she is Composer in Residence for the 2026-27 season, and Ensemble For These Times.  Her string quartet, Seven Scenes, was performed by the Attacca Quartet at the 2026 TUTTI New Music Festival, and she was a finalist for the 2026 NATS Art Song Composition Award.  Yost studies viola and composition at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where her private teachers are Dimitri Murrath and Dr. David Conte.  

 

On the viola front, Yost was commended for her “compelling and daring live performance” of Bartók’s Viola Concerto (San Francisco Classical Voice).  She is also Artistic Director of the Lower Brandywine Choral Festival, a community choral program founded in 2024, and is a poet, photographer, oil painter and novelist.  She is writing a series of novels accompanied by original music and illustrations.

 

300 words

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A gritty, imaginative wayfinder, Zoe Yost centers her artistic life at the crossroads.  Her voice springs from the integration of performance, composition, creative writing, and visual art.  

 

Recent composition projects include Houses of Eternity, commissioned by Empire City Men’s Chorus; Risen, commissioned by Newark United Methodist Church; Seal Lullaby, commissioned by San Francisco Choral Artists; Veils: A Symphonic Poem; Three Pictures from Kīlauea for brass quintet; Three Hymns for woodwind quintet; and a Nocturne for viola and harp.  Her compositions have been performed by artists including David Friend, Empire City Men’s Chorus, Attacca Quartet, Choral Chameleon, Eight Strings & a Whistle, San Francisco Choral Artists, and members of the International Contemporary Ensemble.  Her trio, A Midsummer’s Daydream, was the winner of Eight Strings & a Whistle’s 2024 Composer Competition.  She was San Francisco Choral Artists’ June 2025 Composer in Residence and is working on commissions for Choral Chameleon, for whom she is Composer in Residence for the 2026-27 season, and Ensemble For These Times.  Her Seven Scenes was performed by the Attacca Quartet at the 2026 TUTTI New Music Festival, and she was a finalist for the 2026 NATS Art Song Composition Award.  

 

Yost is also a violist, commended for her “compelling and daring live performance” of Bartók’s Viola Concerto (San Francisco Classical Voice).  She has performed alongside artists including Stefan Jackiw, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and members of the Esmé, Telegraph, Harlem, and Jasper String Quartets.  She is also Artistic Director of the Lower Brandywine Choral Festival, a community choral program founded in 2024, and is a poet, photographer, oil painter, and novelist.  She is writing a novel series accompanied by original music and illustrations.

 

Yost studies viola and composition at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where her private teachers are Dimitri Murrath and Dr. David Conte.  

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500 words

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A gritty, imaginative wayfinder, Zoe Yost centers her artistic life at the crossroads.  Her voice springs from the integration of performance, composition, creative writing, and visual art.  A social and environmental activist, she believes in the responsibility of artists to care for society, and frequently places her craft at the service of her community.

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Recent composition projects include Houses of Eternity, commissioned by Empire City Men’s Chorus; Risen, commissioned by Newark United Methodist Church; Seal Lullaby, commissioned by San Francisco Choral Artists; Veils: A Symphonic Poem; Three Pictures from Kīlauea for brass quintet; Three Hymns for wind quintet; and a Nocturne for viola and harp.   Her compositions have been performed by artists including David Friend, Empire City Men’s Chorus, Attacca Quartet, Choral Chameleon, Eight Strings & a Whistle, San Francisco Choral Artists, and members of the International Contemporary Ensemble.  Her trio, A Midsummer’s Daydream, was the winner of Eight Strings & a Whistle’s 2024 Composer Competition.  She was San Francisco Choral Artists’ June 2025 Composer in Residence and is working on commissions for Choral Chameleon, for whom she is Composer in Residence for the 2026-27 season, and Ensemble For These Times.  Her Seven Scenes was performed by the Attacca Quartet at the 2026 TUTTI New Music Festival, and she was a finalist for the 2026 NATS Art Song Composition Award.  She studies viola and composition at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where her teachers are Dimitri Murrath and Dr. David Conte.  

 

Commended for her “compelling and daring live performance” of Bartók’s Viola Concerto (San Francisco Classical Voice), Yost was the winner of SFCM’s 2024 Low Strings Concerto Competition and previously received awards in the Telegraph Players Chamber Competition, the Caprio Young Artists Competition, and the Grand Prize Virtuoso Bonn and Salzburg Competitions.  She has performed alongside artists including Stefan Jackiw, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and members of the Esmé, Telegraph, Harlem, and Jasper String Quartets.  She has served five times as principal violist of the SFCM Orchestra, and participated in 25 premiere performances at the conservatory.  She is also interested in the technological side of music and, in 2023, collaborated with Pierre and Miguel Mariaca on an electroacoustic production by Kinetech Arts.  Yost has performed on the soundtracks for two short films, Beyond Us and Before Us, scored by Jacques Desjardins.

 

In 2024, Yost founded the Lower Brandywine Choral Festival (LBCF), a weeklong summer program dedicated to building fellowship through music.  LBCF’s final performances benefit the Food Bank of Delaware, for which the Festival has raised over $2300.  This follows in a pattern of philanthropy Yost has maintained since childhood.  Between ages seven and fifteen, she raised over $7,500 for the Delaware Bird-A-Thon, a project dedicated to protecting bird habitat along the Delaware Bayshore.  In Spring 2024, she administrated two benefit concerts in partnership with other musicians, for Compass Family Services and the Starcross Foundation.  

 

Yost is also a poet, photographer, oil painter, and novelist, and is writing a novel series accompanied by original music and illustrations.