Jonathan Zalben

Jonathan Zalben is an American music composer, supervisor, and media artist with extensive experience in film, television, and interactive media. He is the founder and owner of First Frame Music, providing music supervision, licensing, and original score composition services. Zalben has worked on numerous projects, including Oscar-nominated films and documentaries, and has collaborated with prominent directors and artists. He is also a professor at The New School and Brooklyn College, teaching audio post-production and sound design.
==Early life and education==
Zalben began studying violin at the age of nine. He received early music education at The Juilliard School's Pre-College Division, where he studied violin and music composition. At Juilliard, he regularly performed at Lincoln Center and began composition lessons at 14 with Behzad Ranjbaran, crafting his first orchestral piece at 16. 
Zalben earned a B.A. in music from Yale University. He also holds an M.A. in music composition from New York University. At NYU, Zalben gained experience in commercial underscoring studios, leading him to venture into scoring narrative and documentary feature films. He also became proficient in music supervision, working with industry professionals such as Sue Jacobs in NYC and Jonathan McHugh in Los Angeles.
==Career==
Zalben has a diverse background spanning music, film, television, and interactive media art. He is the founder of First Frame Music, offering music supervision, licensing, and original score composition services. Zalben has composed music for notable productions released by Lionsgate, Sony Pictures Classics, Discovery, and HBO. His contributions extend to various films and TV shows, including the Oscar-nominated documentary "Redemption" (HBO), the Sundance award-winning short film "Alone" (NY Times Op-Doc), and the HBO documentary "There's Something Wrong With Aunt Diane." Moreover, his film music has been showcased at various film festivals, such as Sundance, Berlin, SXSW, and Tribeca.
 
Zalben has received awards and grants from renowned institutions, including the National Academy of Sciences, NYSCA, ASCAP, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and the US Navy. His multimedia works have graced esteemed venues worldwide, including the Hammer Museum in LA, MASS MoCA, Boston Public Library, Sony Wonder Technology Lab in NYC, and various art galleries. Notably, his collaboration in net art, "Compound Pilot," with Marshall Jones, received the "Classic" Award at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival.
 
Zalben is also an expert in interaction design and physical computing. He holds a U.S. patent for a muffler that employs a series of tuned domes to reduce noise.
 
Zalben is also an educator, having taught courses and lectured at such institutions as Yale University and Bloomfield College. He is currently a professor at The New School's Media Studies Master's Program and the Director of Media Scoring and Associate Professor at Brooklyn College's Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema.
==Discography== 
Title 	Year 	Category 	Credit
The Gods of Circumstance 	2009 	 	
Composer 	 	 	
The Other 	2009 	Short 	Composer
The Cave Movie 	2009 	 	
Composer 	 	 	
City of Borders 	2009 	 	
Composer 	 	 	
Empire 	2008 	Short 	Composer
House Poor 	2008 	TV Series 	Composer
Bialystok Brooklyn 	2008 	Short 	Composer
Relative Obscurity 	2007 	 	
Composer 	 	 	
Divergence 	2007 	 	
Composer 	 	 	
Hood of Horror 	2006 	 	
Composer 	 	 	
The Perfect Life 	2006 	 	
Composer 	 	 	
The Great Wars 	2006 	Short 	Composer
Doubletime 	2007 	 	
Composer 	 	 	
Off the Map 	2011 	Short 	Composer
Hatched: A Tale of Great Egg-spectations 	2011 	Short 	Composer
Goold's Gold 	2011 	 	
Composer 	 	 	
Son of Morning 	2011 	 	
Composer 	 	 	
The Absence 	2010 	Short 	Composer
Futurestates 	2010 	TV Series 	Composer
Thinly Veiled 	2009 	 	
Composer 	 	 	
The Catcher Was a Spy 	2018 	 	
Music Programming 	 	 	
The Clinic 	2018 	 	
Composer 	 	 	
The Way It Was: Paris Restaurants in the 1970s 	2023 	 	
Music Supervisor 	 	 	
His Three Daughters 	2023 	 	
Music Editor 	 	 	
The Synanon Fix 	2024 	TV Series 	Music Editor
One with the Whale 	2023 	 	
Music Supervisor 	 	 	
Maggie Moore(s) 	2023 	 	
Music Editor 	 	 	
How I Learned to Fly 	2023 	 	
Additional Music 	 	 	
Covid Diaries NYC 	2021 	 	
Music Supervisor 	 	 	
On Pointe 	2020 	TV Series 	Music Supervisor
Salty Pirate 	2020 	TV Movie 	Music Supervisor
Finding the Way Home 	2019 	TV Movie 	Music Supervisor
Axios 	2018–2021	TV Series 	Composer
P.O.V. 	2018 	TV Series 	Composer
The Burial 	2023 	 	
Music Editor 	 	 	
One Good Reason 	2023 	Short 	Composer
Landscape with Invisible Hand 	2023 	Short 	Composer
BronX BandA: Arturo O'Farrill & The Bronx 	2023 	 	
Music Supervisor 	 	 	
Nuclear Fallout: The forgotten veterans who cleaned it up and their fight for justice	2023 	Short 	Composer
Advanced Chemistry 	2023 	Short 	Composer
The Queen's Flowers 	2024 	Short 	Composer
The Atlantis Puzzle 	2024 	Post-production	Composer
==References==
==External links==
* Personal website
* First Frame Music
* 
* Jonathan Zalben on IMDb
* 
Category:American people
Category:Composers
Category:American composers
Category:Managers
Category:Yale University alumni