Zigman was born in San Diego, California. His mother, a pianist and harpist, was his first music teacher, and he developed an early interest in jazz and concert music, studying with Rocky Slight, Gene Hartwell, and Florence Stephenson. A graduate of Point Loma High School, he studied at the University of California, Los Angeles. While still in college, Zigman had a contract with Almo/Irving Music Publishing, wrote songs for Carly Simon and the television show Fame, and co-wrote with David Lasley, Jerry Knight, and Steve Cropper. In 1983, he began studying with his cousin George Bassman. Bassman had also penned the Tommy Dorsey Classic, "Getting Sentimental Over You", was the musical arranger for Lena Horne and Benny Goodman, and orchestrated for Andre Kostelanetz. In the 1980s, Zigman began to make a name for himself as a studio musician and wrote the pop music hits "Crush On You," "Curiosity," and "Private Number," top chart records for The Jets. He then worked for Clive Davis, and produced and arranged for Aretha Franklin and Natalie Cole. During this time he wrote, arranged, and produced songs for many of the top singers and artists in the industry such as Ray Charles, Phil Collins, Dionne Warwick, Boz Scaggs, Tina Turner, Seal, Carly Simon, the Pointer Sisters, Jermaine Stewart, Huey Lewis, Jennifer Holliday, Patti LaBelle, Chicago, Natalie Cole, and Christina Aguilera. In the 1990s, he entered the film industry, with his producing, arranging, orchestration, and pianistic work being featured on soundtracks for Mulan, What's Love Got to Do With It?, The Birdcage, Licence to Kill, and Pocahontas. His first film score was for the 2002 filmJohn Q, which won a BMI Film Music Award. This led to his first major television score, for the 2004 Showtime production Crown Heights, and to his first film score for a major motion pictureThe Notebook, for which he won multiple BMI Awards. In March 2020, Billie Eilish revealed 32 songs which inspired her Grammy-winning album When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go?. "Jesse's Bridge," a song composed by Zigman from his soundtrack for the Disney movie Bridge to Terabithia, was listed as one of the inspirations for Eilish's ILOMILO.
Concert music
Zigman has composed both chamber and full orchestral works on commission, including a viola sonata; a 1994 tone poem Rabin: An Orchestral Work in Five Movements ; Martyrology: A Tribute to Those Who Have Died in the Face of Persecution; Impressions, a 2004 suite for wind ensemble ; Vis Vitae at UCLA; and a Rhapsody for Cello and Piano. His vocal music includes a setting of Shir L'Shalom ; two Ave Maria vocalises ; an Emmy Award-winning setting of the Hebrew prayer for peaceSim Shalom ; and an Italian aria with chorus featured in the film For Colored Girls. For the soundtrack for the 2016 dramatic film Wakefield, French classical pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet contributed piano work to Zigman’s film score. This was the first time another pianist performed his film work. Zigman had first visited Beijing while working on the film score for Chinese movie Hidden Man, directed by Wen Jiang. Hidden Man was China’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. The Tango Manos concerto project was suggested to Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Aaron Zigman by Yu Long, renowned conductor and Chairman of the Beijing Music Festival. Zigman created a three-movement concerto for piano and orchestra, dedicating it to Thibaudet, who premiered the work under Huang Yi's direction with the China Philharmonic at the Beijing Music Festival, October 14, 2019. Zigman attended the October 13, 2019 press conference for the 22nd Beijing Music Festival in Beijing, China. Tango Manos was one of three works written for the Beijing Music Festival, co-commissioned by the China Philharmonic, Radio France and the San Francisco Symphony. The event was of cultural significance, taking place in Jingshan Park, in front of Shouhuang Hall. Jean-Yves Thibaudet played the US premiere of Tango Manos with the San Francisco Symphony in a multi-concert series under the direction of Fabien Gabel, beginning on February 14, 2020. The work has been nominated for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Music and the American Prize in Composition.
