COMPOSER

Composition Bios

Please copy and use!

​

50 words

​

​A gritty, imaginative wayfinder, Zoe Yost centers her artistic life at the crossroads.  Her compositions have been premiered by artists including David Friend, members of the International Contemporary Ensemble, Genevieve Hahn, Choral Chameleon Ensemble, Eight Strings & a Whistle, and San Francisco Choral Artists.  

​

100 words

​

A gritty, imaginative wayfinder, Zoe Yost centers her artistic life at the crossroads.  She studies viola and composition with Dimitri Murrath and Dr. David Conte at San Francisco Conservatory of Music.  

 

Her compositions have been premiered by artists including David Friend, members of the International Contemporary Ensemble, Genevieve Hahn, Choral Chameleon Ensemble, Eight Strings & a Whistle, and San Francisco Choral Artists.  Her flute, viola, and cello 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.

​

200 words

​

A gritty, imaginative wayfinder, Zoe Yost centers her artistic life at the crossroads.  Her voice springs from the integration of performance, composition, and creative writing.  She studies viola and composition with Dimitri Murrath and Dr. David Conte at San Francisco Conservatory of Music.  

 

Recent composition projects include Seal Lullaby, a choral setting 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 music has been premiered, often with her on viola, by artists including David Friend, members of the International Contemporary Ensemble, Genevieve Hahn, Choral Chameleon Ensemble, Eight Strings & a Whistle, and San Francisco Choral Artists.  Her flute, viola, and cello 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.

 

A formidable violist, Yost was the winner of SFCM’s 2024 Low Strings Concerto Competition.  She is also the founding Artistic Director of the Lower Brandywine Choral Festival, a community choral program, and is a creative writer and visual artist. 

 

300 words

​

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

 

Yost studies viola and composition at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where her private teachers are Dimitri Murrath and Dr. David Conte.  Her recent composition projects include Seal Lullaby, a choral setting of Rudyard Kipling’s poem 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 music has been premiered, often with her on viola, by artists including David Friend, members of the International Contemporary Ensemble, Genevieve Hahn, Choral Chameleon Ensemble, Eight Strings & a Whistle, and San Francisco Choral Artists.  Her flute, viola, and cello trio, A Midsummer’s Daydream, was the winner of Eight Strings & a Whistle’s 2024 Composer Competition, and was premiered by the trio in New York City in November 2024.  She was San Francisco Choral Artists’ June 2025 Composer in Residence.

 

A formidable violist, she was the winner of SFCM’s 2024 Low Strings Concerto Competition.  Since arriving at SFCM in Fall 2022, she has served five times as principal violist of the SFCM Orchestra.  Her activities at SFCM include semesterly recitals, often including her compositions. 

 

Also a conductor, Yost is Artistic Director of the Lower Brandywine Choral Festival, a week-long community music program she founded in 2024.  She is also a published poet, and is writing a series of novels accompanied by original music and illustrations. 

​

500 words

​

A gritty, imaginative wayfinder, Zoe Yost centers her artistic life at the crossroads.  Her voice springs from the integration of performance, composition, and creative writing, as well as painting and photography, and she finds inspiration everywhere from the Schoodic Peninsula to New York City.  A social and environmental activist, she believes in the power and responsibility of artists to enrich and care for society, and frequently places her craft at the service of her community.

 

Yost studies viola and composition at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where her private teachers are Dimitri Murrath and Dr. David Conte.  Recent composition projects include Seal Lullaby, a choral setting of Rudyard Kipling’s poem 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 music has been premiered, often with her on viola, by artists including David Friend, members of the International Contemporary Ensemble, Genevieve Hahn, Choral Chameleon Ensemble, Eight Strings & a Whistle, and San Francisco Choral Artists.  Her flute, viola, and cello trio, A Midsummer’s Daydream, was the winner of Eight Strings & a Whistle’s 2024 Composer Competition, and was premiered by the trio in New York City in November 2024.  She was San Francisco Choral Artists’ June 2025 Composer in Residence.

 

A formidable violist, she was the winner of SFCM’s 2024 Low Strings Concerto Competition, and previously received awards in the Telegraph Players Chamber Competition, the Temple University Music Prep Concerto 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.  Since arriving at SFCM in Fall 2022, she has served five times as principal violist of the SFCM Orchestra, and participated in 25 premiere performances.  Her activities at SFCM include semesterly recitals, often featuring her compositions.  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.

 

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 thus far.  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 purchasing and protecting fragile bird habitat along the Delaware Bayshore.  More recently, 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 published poet, and is writing a series of novels accompanied by original music.  When not involved with the arts, she enjoys hiking, traveling, and reading.