Jonathan Zalben received an MA in music composition and multimedia from New York University, a BA in music from Yale University, and has also studied violin and music composition at Juilliard Pre-College. He currently runs First Frame Music a company for music supervision, licensing, and score.

Zalben has written original music for Son of Morning (Joseph Cross, Danny Glover, Heather Graham, Lorraine Bracco), Gods of Circumstance (Cineville: John Schneider, Brian Krause), Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror (Lionsgate / Xenon Pictures: Jason Alexander, Method Man, Billy Dee), Kissing Cousins (David Allen Grier, Jaleel White). He orchestrated the music for Repo: The Genetic Opera (Lionsgate / Twisted Pictures: Paris Hilton, Paul Sorvino, Alexa Vega, Sarah Brightman, Anthony Head)

In addition, he has written music for the documentaries: There's Something Wrong With Aunt Diane (HBO) directed by Liz Garbus, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (Sony Pictures Classics) directed by Morgan Spurlock, Doubletime (Discovery) directed by Stephanie Jones, City of Borders (ITVS) directed by Yun Suh, Make Me Young: Youth Knows No Pain (HBO) directed by Mitch McCabe, and The Perfect Life directed by Sam Lee, which is part of the New York Public Library's Yip Harburg Collection.

Zalben has received grants from the Experimental TV Center through the New York State Council on the Arts, American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Manhattan Community Arts Fund and Swing Space Program, US Navy, and the National Academy of Sciences. His multimedia work has been presented at the Boston Public Library during Boston Cyberarts, Art Without Walls in Central Park, Knitting Factory, PS122, HERE Art Center, Ontological Theater at St. Mark's Church, and Galapagos Art Space. He was a research fellow at the US Department of Energy, Argonne National Laboratory and has also been in residence at the Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music (STEIM) in Amsterdam.

Compound Pilot, a net art collaboration with Marshall Jones, has been shown at galleries in the US, Canada, Korea, Argentina, Australia, England, and Armenia. Compound Pilot won the "Classic" Award at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival.

Zalben's music for film, theater, and television has been shown at Sundance, Slamdance, SXSW, Tribeca, Berlin, LA Film Festival, New York International Fringe Festival, and Chicago SketchFest. His orchestral works have been performed by the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra and the New York University Orchestra. Zalben holds a U.S. patent for a muffler design.

Press Quotes:

"The music and video work of Zalben is an inspiring example of how computer technology and the Internet are expanding the boundaries of video and music." - Matthew Ross, The Daily Reel. March 2, 2007.

"Zalben has devised his own eloquent monument to 9/11...a cathartic moment of great beauty...ephemeral and haunting...The brilliance of Zalben's WTC is that it not only reminds us not to forget but also reflects on the nature of memory itself in its absolute fragility." - Les Hunter, offoffonline.com on WTC. July 12, 2006.

"Jonathan Zalben lends the show a mysterious and mellow score that accentuates the beautiful stage pictures while creating some mental pictures of its own." - Richard Hinojosa, nytheatre.com on Under the Sign of the Hourglass. June 16, 2006.

"Another noteworthy piece was Marshall Jones and Jonathan Zalben's Compound Pilot..."Teardrops 1" and "Teardrops 2" deserve mention for their wit and intellectual depth." - Dene Grigar, Leonardo from MIT Press on Compound Pilot. March 2006.