Dr. Asher G. Zlotnik (1915-1997) was a music scholar and teacher who spent most of his career teaching music theory and sight singing to practicing musicians. Born March 12, 1915, he received early training in music from Ralph L. Baldwin (1872-1943), contributor to many books on elementary music education. He attended the Eastman School of Music and studied privately with Jacques Gordon, then concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. When Gordon became conductor of the Hartford Symphony, Zlotnik joined the orchestra as principal flutist. For five years following World War II, Zlotnik traveled regularly to New York City to study the Schillinger Music Theory Technique with three of Joseph Schillinger's disciples. He began teaching music privately to musicians from the Glen Miller and Tommy Dorsey bands, and members of the radio network orchestras at ABS, CBS, NBC and the WOR radio orchestra. He earned two degrees in music from Yale University: B.A., 1955 and Master of Music, 1956. At Yale he developed a method for teaching sight singing that so impressed Benjamin DeLoach, a voice professor there, that he incorporated it into his own teaching. Zlotnik received his Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1972. His academic teaching positions included the Hartford School of Music (1947-1959), Manhattan School of Music (1957-1959), Boston University (1963-1967). He engaged in research and private teaching in Baltimore until his retirement in 1995. He died on May 29, 1997, survived by his wife Roslyn.
From the guide to the Asher G. Zlotnik Papers, ca. 1945-1997, 1960-1969, (Special Collections in Performing Arts)
