Zerrin Agabigum Martin, (she/her/hers), is active as conductor, educator, and professional singer. She is a second-year Doctor of Musical Arts candidate in Choral Conducting at the University of Florida, Graduate Assistant for the University of Florida Choral Program, and the graduate representative for the University of Florida College of the Arts Student Council of Representatives. Previously, she held the positions of Director of Choirs at the P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School at the University of Florida, Director of Choirs at the Tower Hill School in Delaware, and the Director of the Trouvères and Troubador choirs with the Pennsylvania Girlchoir in Philadelphia. 

Her Doctoral studies encompass the application of voice science in choral pedagogy. Her research on teaching historically informed performance through evidence-based technical exercises founded in voice science: “Choral Pedagogical Tools and Vocal Exercises: A Practical Guide To Teaching Handel’s Messiah,” was published as the October 2023 feature article in The Choral Journal. In June 2023, Zerrin Martin was invited to present her research at the ATINER 14th Annual International Conference for the Visual and Performing Arts in Athens, Greece. Previously, she has presented her Master’s thesis papers at the New Jersey Women’s and Gender Studies Consortium and the Stony Brook University Graduate Studies Music Symposium, and won First Place in the Consortium competition.

Consistently, her middle and high school choirs have received top awards and accolades. In 2019, her 7th and 8th Grade Tower Hill Concert Choir presented a solo concert at the National Association for Music Education All- Eastern Division Conference. Her high school choirs have presented solo concerts at the Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, won numerous festival competitions, and have won First and Second Place Awards at the Maryland ECAS Choral Competitions. In 2013, she founded the Delaware Independent Schools Choral Festival, providing hundreds of high school choral singers opportunities to work with leading collegiate choral conductors on choral masterworks. Zerrin won the Top Educator Award of Delaware Mainline Today among other distinctions.  

As a solo artist, her engagements include Charpentier’s Te Deum, Zelenka’s Missa Paschalis, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, Schütz’s Symphoniae Sacrae III, Copland’s In the Beginning, Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri, and Bach’s St. Matthew and St. John Passions. 

An avid ensemble singer, Zerrin performs regularly with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, and Solaria Singers. She has performed with Seraphic Fire, True Concord Voices, The Crossing Choir, the Weimar Bachakademie Ensemble, the JSB Ensemble of the Internationale Bachakademie in Stuttgart, Norfolk Music Festival Chamber Choir. 

Zerrin received her Bachelor of Music degree in voice performance with teaching certification from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Freda Herseth, Dr. Jerry Blackstone, and Dr. Paul Rardin. She received her Master of Music degree in choral conducting from Westminster Choir College where she studied with Dr. Joe Miller, Dr. Andrew Megill, and Dr. James Jordan, and Margaret Cusack. 

In her spare time, she loves to spend time with her husband, travel, read, knit, bake, run, hike, and is a fan of mystery and fantasy fiction. Her ideal afternoon always involves coffee and pastries from local bakeries while reading.