I work in music with a focus on operations, quality, and publishing.

I'm a music publishing and operations professional with a background in classical music publishing, music engraving, catalog and royalty administration, teaching, and quality-focused project work –

Current Areas

Handshake

Music Domain Lead and Delivery Operations Lead – helping keep quality and process consistent across AI projects that touch music.

Opus Imprints & Paulus Publications

Co-Founder & Head of Operations at Opus Imprints, Head of Operations at Paulus Publications – catalogs, licensing, royalties, and the rest.

Music Preparation

Occasional score and part prep for composers like Steve Heitzeg and William Thomas McKinley – cleanup, formatting, and restoration.

Past Work

Nov 2024 – Apr 2025
AI / Quality

Expert Quality Reviewer, Snorkel AI

Performed quality review and editing of high-volume data submissions from expert contributors across 100+ subject areas, partnering with project managers on final quality checks and tracking recurring issues to improve overall data quality.

Quality Review Editing Feedback
Jan 2024 – Oct 2025
AI / Quality

Speech Annotator, Pollen Music Group

Performed detailed annotation of speech and audio samples, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and adherence to quality benchmarks and anchor examples.

Annotation Audio Benchmarks
Jan 2019 – Dec 2020
Teaching

Austin Peay State University

Clarksville, TN
  • Adjunct Instructor

Delivered in-person and remote instruction for music and freshman seminar courses, including dual enrollment offerings, using D2L to manage course materials and communication.

Courses taught: Freshman Seminar, Introduction to Music, World Music, Popular World Music, Teaching Theory and Aural Skills

D2L Administration Dual Enrollment Instruction Curriculum Delivery
Sep 2018 – Oct 2022
Teaching

SAE Institute North America

Nashville, TN
  • Assistant Professor — Jun 2021 – Oct 2022
  • Instructor — Jan 2020 – Jun 2021
  • Adjunct Instructor — Sep 2018 – Jan 2020

Taught roughly 27 hours of weekly instruction across in-person and synchronous online formats. Managed course administration through Canvas, supported student capstone projects through mentorship, and contributed to ongoing improvement of courses in audio programming, scripting, music theory, game audio, studio maintenance, and post-production.

Courses taught: Principles of Sound, Electronic Music Production, Game Audio, Audio Programming for Interactive Media, Audio Scripting, Intermedia Composition, Advanced Game Audio, Capstone Project, Portfolio

Canvas LMS Administration Capstone Mentorship Synchronous Online Instruction Curriculum Development
2018 – 2020

Library Specialist, Volunteer State Community College

Provided research support and library database instruction to students, faculty, and staff through classroom teaching and individualized consultations.

Research Library Instruction
2015

Intern, American Composers Forum

Conducted member-focused research to assess career resources and opportunities, then presented findings to the Programming Committee and Board.

Research Internship
Aug 2014 – May 2017
Teaching

University of Minnesota–Twin Cities

Twin Cities, MN
  • Graduate Teaching Assistant

Provided instructional and course support for two large-enrollment general education courses serving 350+ students, while leading smaller discussion sections of 30–60 students on the history of rock music.

Courses taught: Rock I: Origins to 1970, Rock II: 1970 to the Present

Moodle Course Management Discussion Facilitation Large-Enrollment Instruction

Education

2014 – 2017

PhD, Music Composition

University of Minnesota–Twin Cities

2012 – 2014

Master of Music, Music Composition

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

2008 – 2012

Bachelor of Science, Music Composition

Austin Peay State University

© 2026 Zack Pentecost