SAN JOSE, CA – Dr. Tikey Zes, esteemed composer, educator, and leader in Greek Orthodox liturgical music, passed away peacefully in his home in San Jose, CA, on May 7. He was 97.
Born in Long Beach, California, on October 10, 1927, Tikey was the son of Athanasios and Anna Zes, who nurtured his early love of music. He began studying violin and piano at the age of five and regularly attended the Greek Orthodox Church, where he developed a lifelong passion for liturgical music. He began composing in high school, then studied harmony and composition at Long Beach Community College under Jerrold Strang, a disciple of Arnold Schoenberg and Johannes Brahms. At the age of 19, Zes arranged his most well-known hymn, ‘Soma Christou’, and it was officially published in 1950.
While in junior college, he served as organist and choir conductor at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption in Long Beach.
In 1952, Zes was drafted to serve in the Korean War where he served one tour of duty and used the G.I. Bill to help pay for his education. He went on to earn both a Master of Music in violin and composition and a Doctor of Musical Arts in composition under Ingolf Dahl at the University of Southern California.
In 1955, Dr. Zes moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and became choir director at Annunciation, then the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension in Oakland, where he met his wife, Teddi Zes. They married on September 8, 1963, and raised three children— Athan, Evan, and Anna-Matina— in a home filled with faith, creativity, laughter, and love.
In 1964, Dr. Zes joined the faculty of San Jose State University as a professor of music, teaching theory and composition until his retirement in 1991. He was also concertmaster of the Musicke Faire Chamber Orchestra for many years, and during a sabbatical in 1976, traveled to Greece to study the notation and transcription of Post-Byzantine chant. After his retirement in 1991, he redoubled his devotion to Greek Orthodox Church music for the next 34 years, until the very moment of his passing.
Dr. Zes directed Greek Orthodox choirs across the country from 1950 onward and served as director of the St. Nicholas Choir in San Jose from 1971. He was a frequent guest conductor and clinician for Greek Orthodox choir federations nationwide and composed and arranged extensively for Orthodox liturgical services— including five complete liturgies, one in English— as well as numerous choral and piano works inspired by Greek folk and Byzantine music.
In recognition of his contributions, he was named an Archon of the Great Church of Christ by Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios in 1976. In 1993, he was appointed Music Minister for the Greek Orthodox Diocese of San Francisco, where he led many Church Music Institutes. In 2005 and 2006, he inaugurated the first-ever Conductor Training Academy for the Greek Orthodox Church in the United States.
Dr. Zes was a devoted Greek Orthodox Christian, a passionate educator, a pioneering composer, a dedicated husband, a beloved father, and proud pappou. His contributions to church music continue to inspire and uplift congregations with the beauty and depth of his work resonating in the hearts and voices of faithful communities everywhere.
He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Teddi Zes (2021). He is survived by his children, son Athan Zes and his wife Christine, and their children Alex and Evan; son Evan Zes and his wife Nicole; and daughter, Anna Zes.
May his memory be eternal.
In lieu of flowers, the Zes family asks that donations be made in his name to one of the following organizations:
The Tikey Zes Legacy project, a website honoring his incredible and vast body of work which will help make his sheet music, manuscripts, and audio recordings easily accessible to Orthodox communities across the United States and around the world. Help us spread Tikey’s music far and wide so that he may live in our hearts forever: https://shorturl.at/QqoFI
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in San Jose, CA: https://www.saintnicholas.org/donate
Cappella Romana: https://shorturl.at/CAv3q
Doctors Without Borders: https://shorturl.at/I3pwo.
