SALISBURY — Zoltan “Zip†Zantay died Aug. 27, 2009, at Noble Horizons, where he had volunteered for many years, delighting residents with his music and his Great Danes, Penny and Otis. He was 88 years old.
Zip, whose parents emigrated from Hungary, was a lifelong professional musician. His father was a violinist. Zip started his career by winning a New York City woodwind contest for public school students. He won flute and clarinet lessons with Marcel Moyse and with Simone Belison, both of the New York Philharmonic. Zip distinguished himself early on as a scholarship member of Mr. Belison’s clarinet ensemble.
During World War II, Zip served as a member of the 365th Special Services Band, under the baton of Sy Oliver. It was during this time that Zip participated in many historical wartime broadcasts.
After the war, Zip performed with many well-known Big Bands, including Shep Fields, Carmen Cavellero, Dick Stabile, Lex Baxter, Art Mooney and others.
Broadway beckoned and Zip followed, playing in the pit of such shows as “Lost in the Stars,†“Can Can,†“Me and Juliet,†“Follow the Girls,†“Touch and Go†and many others.
Zip also had the honor of playing the first reed chair with the Roxy Theater Orchestra from 1944 to 1953, as well as at the Paramont Theater and the Copacabana, where he performed with musical luminaries such as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and many others. He was featured as The King of the Cha Cha when leading his quintet at the Astor Roof Café.
He then became a successful music teacher and club-date musician on Long Island, with more than 90 students a week studying with him.
In 1960, he and two partners opened Camp Deerwood in Monterey, Mass. Zip and Ethel (his devoted wife of 42 years, who predeceased him in 1987) became the sole owners of the camp, where he was a defining force in the development of the lives of his thousands of campers. The camp ran until 1984. He also taught music at Berkshire School in Sheffield, Mass. His children, former campers and his students remember him as a larger-than-life personality with charm and chutzpah like no other!
Zip has children and indeed grandchildren who continue to carry on his musical career. He is survived by his three children, Robert of New York City, Douglas and his wife, Karen (a former camper), of Ridgefield, Conn., and Valerie of Monterey, Mass.; seven grandchildren, Renee Zantay, Chelsea Zantay, Dakota Zantay, Jazz Zantay, Gabriel Ibanez, Joshua Ibanez and David Ibanez; his brother, William Szantay; and his beloved partner of more than 20 years, Marian Schwaikert of Lakeville.
He was predeceased by his sister, Helen Civic.
A celebration of his extraordinary life will be held on Sept. 12 at 11 a.m. at Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Salisbury.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions be made in his memory to Noble Horizons or to the SVNA Hospice, both of Salisbury, through Finnerty & Stevens Funeral Home, 426 Main St., Great Barrington, MA 01230.
Remembrances, memories and reflections may be sent to the family through finnertyandstevens.com.
