Zach Bartholomew was born on March 13th, 1986, in Tallahassee, FL. He grew up south of Tallahassee in the small town of Sopchoppy, and began taking piano lessons when he was 11 years old. During high school he played in the jazz band for two years, but it wasn't until after a visit to New Orleans with his family that he truly became interested in jazz. When he was 17 years old he began studying periodically with Professor Bill Peterson at Florida State University, and attended the FSU Honors Jazz Camp during the summer. After a year of studying jazz and practicing, he successfully auditioned into the Jazz Program at Florida State University. While at FSU, Zach was able to take several private lessons with pianist Marcus Roberts as well as work with Roberts, Roland Guerin, Rodney Jordan, and Jason Marsalis in small group and trio settings. In May of 2009 he earned a Bachelors of Arts in Music and graduated magna cum laude.

Since graduating, Zach has made a successful living as a professional musician and music instructor. He has performed and toured all over the Southeast and internationally in Europe with his jazz trio. His band performed at the inauguration of the 45th governor of Florida and has been featured multiple times in Florida State University's newspaper, the FSVIEW. His trio has also been featured on the The Jazz Lifestyle Radio show in Charlotte, NC while touring through the area.

As a teacher, Zach has years of experience teaching private lessons. His students have ranged in age from 7 to 72. In 2009 he worked at FSU's Jazz Summer Camp as a music instructor and taught the high school jazz piano class, the middle school rhythm section class, and worked with the middle school big band under the instruction of Melvin Jones. Zach and his trio have also conducted clinics and workshops with high school jazz bands and jazz vocal groups.

If you are interested in piano lessons or learning to play jazz, email zbtrio@gmail.com or visit Zach's website devoted to music lessons at http://www.tallahasseepianoteacher.com.