Zack Di Lello is a composer, sound artist, and improvisor. His recent compositions have focused on drawing connections between the experiences of plants and humans. In 2024, Zack started working with Cecilia Dahlsjö, an ecologist at Oxford studying the effects of Ash Dieback on the forests of the UK. Her research inspired his piece Ash Dieback & What Replaces Us, which explores the intersection of ecological disruption, language death, and cross-species empathy. The work was premiered in April 2024 at Modern Art Oxford. Zack will continue developing this topic as part of his PhD, which aims to explore how complex ecological phenomena can be communicated through music and performance in a way that entangles humans in the changes happening in the world.

A native of Southern California, Zack Di Lello currently lives in the UK. He studied composition with Lansing McLoskey and Juraj Kojs at the University of Miami. After graduating in 2018, Zack moved to Boston, Massachusetts where he taught music for four years. In 2022, Zack moved to the UK to undertake a masters in composition at the University of Oxford under the supervision of Jennifer Walshe. Zack completed his masters in 2024 and returned to Oxford the same year to start a PhD and continue his studies with Walshe.

In 2024, Zack was a recipient of the Sir Peter Elworthy research grant for his participation in the New Music on the Point festival, which gathered important voices working at the intersection of contemporary music and ecological art. In addition to his composition work, Zack performs regularly as a trumpet player and improvisor. His improvisation collective FISH GUY opened for the Baltimore-based electronic music duo Matmos in November 2023. Zack is also an avid student and performer of Javanese Gamelan music.