Prof. Menachem Zur was born in Israel in 1942. He is a graduate of the Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem. In the United States he received degrees from the Mannes College of Music, Sarah Lawrence College, and Columbia University, where he was awarded the D.M.A. degree in 1976. Prof. Zur has taught at Queens College, CUNY, and New York University, and is on the faculty of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.   

Menachem Zur has composed numerous works, including chamber, vocal, symphonic and electronic music, and one full-scale opera. Prof. Zur has received numerous national prizes, among them the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1981. The most recent prize is the Prime Minister’s prize for composition (2010), that was awarded to him for the second time.

Most of his works have been published in the United States and in Israel. His orchestral and chamber works have received numerous performances by orchestras and ensembles in Israel and abroad, including an evening devoted to his chamber music in the series  “Works and Process” held at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. 

During the years 1992-1994 and 2000-2003 he served as the chairperson of the Israeli Composers' League. He has been an official representative of Israel in conferences and festivals such as the ISCM and ACL.  Prof. Zur is regularly invited to lecture at universities and music academies and has had vast experience in presenting many subjects related to composition and theory, in many parts of the world.

His administrative ­experience includes the organizing of an international symposium on multi-media, the guiding and judging master's and doctoral dissertations, serving as dean and chairman of  the compositon and theory department in Jerusalem, reviewing professional activities for the commission of higher education in Israel and judging international competitions in Israel and abroad.