He was one of the most popular Yiddish singers in the Soviet Union alongside some of his contemporaries such as Mikhail Alexandrovich, Emil Gorovets, Anna Guzik, and Sidi Tal.
[1] By age ten Zinovy was already a talented singer and was a soloist in his father's synagogue choir.
[8] However, he remained more interested in Yiddish art song than Opera, and resigned in 1935 to dedicate himself more fully to Jewish music.
[11] After the concert he was sent by Kyiv where he was interrogated, tortured, and accused of support for Jewish nationalism; he was eventually sentenced to ten years in a labor camp.
[16] One such promotional material, which was distributed widely in 1961, described a "conference devoted to the development of Yiddish songs and music, organized by the Soviet-Yiddish magazine SOVETISH KHEYMLAND.
In his late career, as his health worsened Shulman also turned to educating a younger generation of performers.