Zack Merkovsky maintains an active freelance career in and around the NYC metro area. He is a member of the Allentown Symphony Orchestra and the York Symphony Orchestra, and often plays with the New York Classical Players, the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, The Syracuse Orchestra, Pegasus: The Orchestra, and the Albany Symphony Orchestra, among others. In addition to symphonic literature, Zack is also devoted to chamber and contemporary music. He is one half of Doubles Duo, oboe and double bass, where he works to broaden the chamber repertoire for this unusual ensemble. Zack has also spent two summers with the Shippensburg Festival, three with the Lucerne Contemporary Festival Orchestra, and four at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival as a guest artist. He can be seen and heard on the soundtrack of Bradley Cooper’s Maestro (2023).
Zack teaches a private studio of double basses in New Jersey, and has coached numerous youth orchestra bass sections. In the past he has served as a mentor for the Sussex County Youth Orchestra, Youth Orchestras of Essex County, the Music in Schools Initiative at Yale School of Music, and the John J. Cali Extension Division at Montclair State University. Zack was formerly a member of The Orchestra Now at Bard College; he holds degrees from Yale School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and Montclair State University, where he studied with Donald Palma, Orin O’Brien, and Linda McKnight, respectively.