Michael Zager
BA, University of Miami
Diploma in Composition, Mannes College of Music, New School University
Dorothy F. Schmidt Eminent Scholar in the Performing Arts

Areas of Expertise
• Commercial Music
• Composition

Email:    mzager@fau.edu
Office Phone:    561.297.0600
Office:    AH 111

Michael Zager is Florida Atlantic University’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College Eminent Scholar in the Performing Arts and Director of the FAU Commercial Music Program. Professor Zager is the recipient of three Fulbright Specialist grants from the United States Department of State and two Visiting Professor grants, and has served on the Board of Governors for the Florida Chapter of the Recording Academy (Grammy Awards). He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Miami and graduated from the New School University’s Mannes College of Music, where he majored in composition. Professor Zager served on the faculty of Mannes College of Music prior to joining Florida Atlantic University’s faculty. Zager studied theatre music under the tutelage of the legendary Stephen Sondheim, as well as orchestration, jazz arranging and composition at the Manhattan School of Music, and conducting at the Juilliard School of Music.

He is the author of two editions of Music Production: For Producers, Composers, Arrangers and Students and two editions of Writing Music for Television and Radio Commercials: A Manual for Composers and Students, both published by The Scarecrow Press, Inc. 

 Zager has produced, composed and/or arranged original music in a wide range of musical idioms, including commercials, albums, network television, and source and theme music for major motion pictures. He has produced Grammy Award-winning artists including Whitney Houston, Cissy Houston, Peabo Bryson, Luther Vandross, Denise Williams, Jennifer Holliday, Joe Williams, Arturo Sandoval, Herb Alpert, Olatunji and The Spinners. Some of Zager’s original scores and original studio recordings of Whitney Houston, The Spinners, and The Michael Zager Band reside in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.

Record Awards

Awards for producing, composing and/or arranging: 

• 14 Gold or Platinum Records 
• Golden Boot Award (France) 
• Europe 1 Award (equivalent to a European Grammy) 
• Olé Award (Spain)
• Two BMI Citations of Achievement Awards (for most performed songs on radio in a given year)
• Grammy Nomination for “Cupid/I’ve Loved You For a Long Time” (The Spinners)
• Nominated for Producer of the Year (Danny Ray Edwards) Golden Music Awards in Nashville, Tennessee
• Nominated for Best New Artist, Daniel Ray Edwards, Golden Music Awards in Nashville, Tennessee
• Nominated for Single of the Year “You Win Again,” Golden Music Awards
• Nominated for Independent Record Label of the Year Golden Music Awards

Advertising Awards

• Awards for composing and/or arranging: 
• Clio Award
• Three International Film Festival Awards
• Three Art Directors Club Awards 
• Mobius Advertising Award, U.S. Television

Television Awards

• Platinum Video Award (ABC-TV Funfit with Mary Lou Retton) 
• Daytime Emmy Award (ABC-TV Funfit with Mary Lou Retton)