Zach James graduated from Ithaca College with a bachelor's degree in musical theatre in 2005. He has appeared on Broadway in the original casts of Coram Boy, the Tony Award–winning revival of South Pacific, and The Addams Family (as Lurch). A winner of the 2009 Lotte Lenya Competition, he has sung with the Ash Lawn Opera, Knoxville Opera, and Central City Opera. He sang the role of Oberon in the world premiere of Kristin Hevner's Il Sogno in Città della Pieve, Umbria.

Zach has performed in theatres throughout the United States in roles including Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd; Miles Gloriosus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Rapunzel's Prince in Into the Woods; Abner in Li'l Abner; Squash in Victor, Victoria; Petr in The ToyMaker; and the Major-General in The Pirates of Penzance.

As the founding director of Metropolis Opera Project, Zach collaborates with composers and writers to present new, socially relevant, financially accessible opera to a new demographic of operagoer. Since its inaugural production in 2008, Metropolis Opera Project has produced over a dozen events, including full-length operas, the annual One Act Festival, a new works festival, and several concerts, workshops, and cabarets.