Described by The New Yorker magazine as one of the "prime movers of the local avant-garde", and an "exacting avant-classical guitarist" by TimeOut NY, Patrick Higgins (b.1984) is a New York based composer/performer of experimental music. He plays guitar in ZS. Higgins is a graduate of Columbia University, where he studied philosophy and comparative literature. An active presence in the NYC independent music scene since 2004, Higgins composed and played guitar in the post-rock duo Animal. Recently, he has turned his attentions to the Baroque, arranging and performing the music of J.S. Bach for acoustic guitar and stereo electronics: Bachanalia. Among numerous other compositions for small ensemble and chamber orchestra, a recording of Higgins' String Quartet No.2 is currently in production with the MIVOS Quartet. Named to the Best of 2012 list by Impose Magazine and hailed as "visionary ... master craftsmanship on guitar" by Tiny Mix Tapes, Higgins' new record STEREO is available on Words+Dreams. Read a recent interview on the Free Music Archive with Higgins here. He will be on tour with ZS across the US, Canada, Europe and Japan in 2013.
"Mr. Higgins made his guitar chords chime and scrape and judder [...] it was also bright, severe, and specific." - New York Times
"classical composer [...] well known as a gifted guitarist at home on the more brutal, punky fringes of the prog-rock community" - The New Yorker
"[Bachanalia] is almost unstoppable. Relentlessly pretty. And sounding as though it's been Patrick Higgins' lifetime-achievement goal to sound flawless on guitar [...] Just, the most important part is performance. Watching the flow of [Higgins] music through their entire body floods your senses." - Tiny Mix Tapes
String Quartet No.2 "[Higgins'] ear for sound and craft of vibrating wood presents tremendous composure within a piece teetering on the brink of madness." - Tiny Mix Tapes
STEREO: "The level of ambition and execution in this three-part, 40 minute long composition are powerfully matched, and the level of technique and the sheer amount of polyphony in this piece are actually stunning." -IMPOSE Magazine
At South-by-Southwest: " it wouldn’t be entirely unreasonable to name Patrick Higgins the best guitarist of the 2013 event. By some combination of talent and a well-conceived rig, he makes breakneck playing look effortless." -Premier Guitar Magazine
"polyglot NYC composer" and "out-of-the-box classical guitarist"
part of "New York's generation of up-and-coming composers" - Time Out NY
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