Born in Rauschengesees [de], Thüringen,[1] Zapf studied church music from 1974 until 1979 at the Kirchenmusikschulen Eisenach (Thüringen) and the Evangelische Hochschule für Kirchenmusik Halle.
[2] During this time Zapf took part in the Summer Courses for Neue Musik in Gera (Thuringia).
After graduating, he worked as Kantor at the city church in Eisenberg (Thuringia) from 1979 to 1982.
[3] Until the beginning of his Meisterschülerstudium [de] with Georg Katzer at the Akademie der Künste der DDR in Berlin (1982–1986),[4] he wrote his first self-taught compositions, among others Singender Mann for solo flute, Brechungen I und II for flute and string trio, Klangetüde II for orchestra, Recitativ for oboe and string quartet.
Since completing his masterclass, Zapf has lived and worked as self employed composer in Zepernick [de] (Panketal) near Berlin.