Zach Klobnak
Assistant Professor of Music
Offices & Programs
Education
BA: Music, Luther College
MA: Arts Administration, University of Kentucky
MM: Music Performance, University of Florida
DMA: Music Performance, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
BIOGRAPHY
Zach Klobnak is Assistant Professor of Music at Centre College, where he has taught since 2013. He teaches applied lessons in organ, piano, and harpsichord as well as courses in American music and music theory. His duties include accompanying responsibilities for Centre’s voice and choral programs.
A native of Iowa, Klobnak holds degrees from Luther College (B.A.), the University of Florida (M.M.), the University of Kentucky (M.A.), and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (D.M.A.), where he held the Brownson Fellowship for organ studies. His principal organ teachers include Dana Robinson, Laura Ellis, and Gregory Peterson; he has also studied harpsichord with Kathryn Reed and choral conducting with Donald Nally, Fred Stoltzfus, and Timothy Peter.
As an active recitalist, Zach has performed throughout the region as soloist and collaborative artist. He especially enjoys designing programs that help expand the core repertoire to include underrepresented composers, including Parisian composer Rolande Falcinelli, who was the subject of his doctoral project. He studied French organ literature and design in Paris and in the Alps region of France. Since 2015, Zach has served as principal keyboardist and accompanist for the Kentucky Bach Choir. He will play the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony with the Johnson City (TN) Symphony Orchestra in September 2023.
Klobnak is also a seasoned arts administrator. Much of his work in this realm is through the American Guild of Organists, where he currently sits on the Committee for Scholarships. Recently, he helped design and oversee an educational outreach program for young musicians, including a state-of-the-art virtual camp during the Covid-19 pandemic. He has also inaugurated two concert series, one each in Florida and Kentucky, both of which continue to connect audiences to unique musical offerings and are now thriving in their second decade of existence.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS / MEMBERSHIPS
American Guild of Organists
College Music Society
Association of Arts Administration Educators
COURSES TAUGHT
Applied Piano
Applied Organ
Applied Harpsichord
MUS 110: Fundamentals of Music
MUS 120: Music Theory I
MUS 121: Aural Skills I
MUS 219: The Great American Songbook
MUS 236: The Power of African American Spirituals