Biography

Classical percussionist and educator, Zach Gutierrez, has been praised for his sincere musical performances and has established himself as a musician offering a dynamic concert experience.

Zach has performed throughout the United States and internationally with numerous respected symphony orchestras, mixed chamber ensembles, percussion chamber groups, and occasionally as a soloist. Early in his career, Zach was active in the marching and pageantry arts, culminating in receiving the prestigious Fred Sanford Award with The Cadets 2013 percussion section under the direction of Colin McNutt. In recent years, he has performed as an orchestral musician under the baton of distinguished conductors including Marin Alsop, Ludovic Morlot, David Zinman, Peter Oundjian, Brett Mitchell, Christoph Eschenbach, Franz Krager, Joseph Young, Laurent Pillot, and Arthur Arnold.

As a chamber musician, Zach co-founded 3G Percussion with his brothers Sarek Gutierrez and Jacob Gutierrez. The group's performances have featured percussion chamber music by composers such as Alejandro Viñao, Toru Takemitsu, John Cage, Robert Honstein, and James Romig. 3G Percussion has performed primarily in Texas and internationally in Canadian cities such as Montreal, Toronto and London. In 2017, 3G Percussion collaborated with the Transitory Sound and Movement Collective to create a hour -long, large-scale interdisciplinary work of dance, film, and music with creatives from Dallas and New York City.

Zach’s multifaceted career has led him into various musical activities including being a co-founder of the Space City New Music Festival (SCNMF), a vibrant international music festival designed to support emerging artists and the creation of modern compositions. SCNMF brought in participants from across the world including Poland, Taiwan, United States, Mexico, Germany, and Canada. In 2018, SCNMF generated and premiered 17 newly composed works that were performed by participants, 3G Percussion, and Crystal Chu. In 2019, the Space City New Music Festival featured guest artists Cameron Leach, Hub New Music, Daryl Robinson, and Shih-Hui Chen. 

Zach continues to be an avid collaborator with composers and other musicians to further the creation of new percussion repertoire. Most recently, he was a member of the commissioning consortium for Alejandro Vinao’s Stress and Flow, for percussion quartet and electronics, and Juri Seo’s Sonata, for marimba and vibraphone. Most recently, Zach organized a consortium to commission a new work for two percussionists composed by Miles Walter.

Additional performance highlights include a performance in the U.S. premiere of Where We Lost Our Shadows, a piece for orchestra, video, and soloists Shanya Dunkelman, Ali Setha, and Helga Davis. This event was part of The Human Journey, a collaboration between the Kennedy Center, National Geographic Society, and the National Gallery of Art. Where We Lost Our Shadows recognized and depicted the timeless struggle of human migration and its many effects, while celebrating the resilient human spirit that instigates and survives it. Incorporating Qawwali raga and texts by Palestinian poet Ghassan Zaqtan, it is the creation of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Du Yun and Palestinian videographer Khaled Jarrar. This work was Co-commissioned by the Kennedy Center with Carnegie Hall, the American Composers Orchestra, London’s Southbank Centre, and Cal Performances. 

From 2022 to 2025, Zach served the students and community of Fort Bend Independent School District as Director of Percussion for Dulles High School and Dulles Middle School in Sugar Land, Texas. During this time, the Dulles High School Honor Band earned national recognition as a 2024 Mark of Excellence Commended Winner, and the Dulles Middle School Honor Band was a state finalist in the 2026 3C Texas State Honor Band competition.

Zach Gutierrez holds a Master of Musical Arts from the Yale School of Music and a Master of Music from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, where he studied under renowned percussionist Robert van Sice. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Houston and is a certified K–12 music educator in the state of Texas.