Composer and conductor Christopher Zuar is the recipient of a 2020 Copland House Residency Award, and 2022 MacDowell Fellowship. His debut album, “Musings” (2016), with the Christopher Zuar Orchestra, a collection of eight original compositions for large ensemble, was awarded a spot on DownBeat magazine's "Best Albums of 2016", and runner-up "Debut of The Year" in the NPR Jazz Critics Poll. Zuar is a recipient of the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer’s Award (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017), the First Music Commission from the New York Youth Symphony (2011, 2012 and 2015), the 2016 ASCAP Johnny Mandel Prize, the 2020 Airmen of Note Sammy Nestico Award, and the 2021 Symphonic Jazz Orchestra Commissioning Prize. Zuar’s music has been performed by the WDR Big Band (Germany), the Brussels Jazz Orchestra (Belgium), the Danish Radio Big Band (Denmark), and New York Youth Symphony Jazz among others.