Lincoln, NE—Lincoln High School (Junior)

Zeph Siebler is an international baccalaureate program senior. He is the recipient of a 2021 Nebraska Young Artist Award for his compositions. As a senior soloist, he performed “Velvet Night,” an original piece for voice and orchestra, with the Lincoln Youth Symphony. He’s written and arranged music for diverse ensembles around the city, from big bands, to cello duets, to rock ensembles. He is planning to major in music composition and study vocal music. Since he was young, musical theater has entranced him; from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to Beetlejuice to Jesus Christ Superstar. When he’s not writing or performing music, he enjoys playing Dungeons and Dragons, learning about philosophy, volunteering at YMCA Camp Kitaki, and working at an after-school program.

 

SONG: "Overman" by Zeph Siebler
Music Director: Daniel Lincoln
Mentors: Isabella Dawis & Tidtaya Sinutoke
Vocalists: Nick Cartell, Leana Rae Concepcion, Sushma Saha, Troy Iwata
Musicians: Patrick Sulken, Alex Eckhardt, Sean McDaniel, Hidayat Honari, Tomo Akaboshi, Molly Goldman, Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf

 

The renowned intellectual Fredrick Nietzsche has recently retired as a lecturer at the University of Leipzig in Germany and is in the midst of writing his yet-to-be famous book of philosophical fiction, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In the book, Nietzsche declares, "God is dead, and we have killed him." In contrast to a religious god, Nietzsche argues that people should overturn their current moral system and pursue a concept he called overman, a superhuman image of humanity’s greatest potential realized. This song features Nietzsche meditating on this idea and the dark and pivotal moment it represents in his emotional journey.

 

Final recorded song:

 

Song submitted for competition (under the title “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”):

Transcript

 

Zeph Siebler (bottom right) with mentors Tidtaya Sinutoke and Isabella Dawis and music director Daniel Lincoln. Photo by JT Anderson