Marika Kuzma

Marika Kuzma photo

Marika Kuzma
Professor
Virginia Chan Lew Chair in Music

University of California Berkeley Music Department

222 Morrison Hall
510/642-5519 phone
email: mkuzma@berkeley.edu
Office Hours

Biography | Career | Publications and Creative Work
Curriculum Vita .pdf | download black & white picture

Biography

My love of music and various languages and cultures began at an early age. I grew up on the East Coast, in Hartford, Connecticut in a tight-knit community of Ukrainian-Americans. Ukrainian was in fact my first language, and the first music I sang with a chorus was in Church Slavonic—at our church my mom was the soprano soloist and my dad held together the tenor section. At age three, I also apparently spoke Italian with a neighborhood friend, Joey, but I have no recollection of that. I have studied Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, and German.

My formal music education began at the Hartt School of Music, where I took violin lessons with Joza Karas (who later became famous for his research in concentration camp music) and played in the Hartford Youth Orchestra under Bernard Lurie. But my main love was singing. During high school I took voice lessons, sang in choirs, played roles in high school musicals, and entered college as a voice major.

In college, I “caught the choral bug” singing under Robert Porco, who is now director of the Cleveland and Cincinnati Orchestra Choruses. Hearing his choir sing the Bach B Minor Mass when I was a freshman changed my life. I later studied choral directing with him and with Jan Harrington at Indiana University. I have had the privilege to sing under and study with many other inspired and inspiring musicians: Thomas Binkley, Paul Elliot, Joseph Flummerfelt, Vance George, Robert Gutter, Ellen Hargis, Thomas Hart, Volodymyr Kolesnyk, Richard Luby, William Mahrt, Gustav Meier, Michael Morgan, Kent Nagano, John Poole, Mendi Rodan, Robert Shaw, Michael Tilson Thomas, William Ramsey, Jane Randolph, Paul Vermel, Lynn Wickham.

Various travels and graduate degrees later, I am now a Professor of Music and Choral Director here at UC Berkeley. I direct the large, symphonic University Chorus and Chamber Chorus and pursue some research in Slavic Choral Music. My main goal in directing these choirs is to lead them into choral repertoire, mostly classical, very deeply. I want them to become acquainted with their own individual voice as well as with the voice of the composer--with the style of his era, and with the ethos of her culture. I also still sing whenever and wherever I can.

Career

Education:

1981		B. Mus. (with highest honors), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
1986		M.A., Stanford University
1992		D.M., Indiana University School of Music
		Aspen Music School, Aspen CO Summers 1979, 1988, 1989
		Salzburg Mozarteum, Salzburg Austria, Summer 1981
		Die Hochschule für Musik, Vienna Austria, 1981-82
		International Conducting Institute, Kiev Ukraine, 1997

Academic Positions:

1990

University of California, Berkeley. Associate Professor of Music

1994	Music Director University Chamber Chorus (30-voice)
1990	Music Director University Chorus (100-voice)
1992	Interim Director University Symphony, Spring
	Chorus preparation for University Symphony
	Courses taught in conducting and in music history and literature

2000-01

University of Virginia, Visiting Professor, Director of University Singers

2001

Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music, Moscow, Russia. Invited lectures on Slavic choral music

1997

Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music, Kiev, Ukraine. Guest Lecturer. Invited lectures on Slavic Choral music and American spirituals

1997

Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH. Visiting Professor

Music Director Handel Society of Dartmouth College.

Other Academic Engagements

2006, 1996

Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.

Invited Lectures on Slavic Choral Music.

2003

Oklahoma City University, Guest Conductor

2002

Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music, Moscow, Russia.

Invited lectures on Slavic choral music

1998

Holy Names College, Oakland, CA. Guest Professor in Conducting

1995

Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, CA. Courses in Conducting and Music Analysis

1994

Amherst Early Music Festival, Collegium Director

Courses taught in conducting and in music history and literature

Professional Activities:

Guest Conducting
Montreal Symphony Chorus, Guest Director 2007-08
Oakland Symphony Chorus
	Guest director, Rachmaninoff Vsenoschnoye bdeniye, Fall 2004
	Guest conductor at “Summer Sings” Summers 2004, 1999, 1996, 1994
	Clinician for Rachmaninoff’s Kolokola, January 2000
Oratorio Singers of Charlotte, Invited rehearsal, March 2004
New Haven Chorale, Invited rehearsal, November 2002
Cleveland Symphony Orchestra
	Finalist, Choral Director’s Position, Fall 1997
National Symphony of Ukraine
	Guest conductor in festival concert, Summer 1997
Berkeley Symphony (Kent Nagano, Music Director)
	Children’s Concerts, Spring 1994
	Subscription Series, June 1992
Bay Area Women’s Philharmonic. Guest conductor, September 1996
Chamber Orchestra of Hanover New Hampshire; Handel Society of Dartmouth
	Guest director, April 1997
Composers Inc. (San Francisco contemporary music ensemble)
	Guest conductor, Fall 1999, November 1995
Earplay (San Francisco contemporary music ensemble), February 1994
Bloomington Baroque (Stanley Ritchie, director)
	Berkeley Early Music Festival, June 1992
Sacred and Profane Chamber Chorus, Berkeley, California.
	Director, 1990-91
Terre Haute (Indiana) Choral Society, Guest Director, Fall 1989
Terre Haute Chamber Chorale, Guest Director, Fall 1988
Chorus Preparation for Professional Ensembles
Youth Orchestra of the Americas, Kent Nagano
	Concerts in Sao Paolo Brazil, August 2006
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Nicholas McGegan, Music Director
	Beethoven Symphony No. 9 2006
	Handel L’Allegro 2003, 2000, 1995
	Handel Saul, 1994
	Purcell King Arthur, 1994
Mark Morris Dance Group
	Purcell King Arthur, 2006
	Handel L’Allegro, 2003, 2000, 1995
	Rameau Platée, 2001, 1998
	Purcell Dido & Aeneus, 1995
Berkeley Symphony, Kent Nagano, Music Director
	Brahms Alto Rhapsody and Vaughan Williams Flos campi, 1995
Midsummer Mozart Festival, George Cleve, Music Director
	Beethoven Symphony No. 9, 1995
Oakland East Bay Symphony, Michael Morgan, Music Director
	Gershwin Porgy & Bess, 1994;
	Let Us Break Bread Together Concerts 1995,1993
San Francisco Symphony and Symphony Chorus
	Russian diction coach to Michael Tilson Thomas, Vance George, chorus, soloists.
	Rimsky-Korsakov Mlada, 2002; Stravinsky Svadebka 2001, 1999, 1994
	Performances at Davies Symphony Hall 1994-2002, Carnegie Hall 2001
Chanticleer, Joseph Jennings, Music Director. Russian Diction coach, 2002, 2004.
Assistant Conductor to
	Kent Nagano, Berkeley Symphony, 1992-94
	Thomas Binkley, Pro Arte Singers, Indiana University, 1989-90
	Leonard Slatkin and Catherine Comet, Aspen Music Festival, 1989
	Jan Harrington, Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, Indiana University, 1988-89
	Robert Porco, University Opera Theater, Indiana University, 1988

Honors & Awards:

1977-81 John Motley Morehead Scholar

1979 Phi Beta Kappa

1989 Pi Kappa Lambda

1991 Finalist for Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award

1993 Julius Herford Prize, American Choral Directors Association

2001 Virginia Chan Lew Associate Professor of Music

2003 Song of Songs CD nominated for Grammy Award

Publications and Creative Work

Publications
Translation of Stravinsky, Svadebka [Les Noces] SF Symphony Playbill. June 1994
"Bortniansky à la Bortniansky: An Examination of the Sources of Dmitry Bortniansky's Choral Concertos," Journal of Musicology 14 (Summer 1996): 183-212.
New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Sign.d articles on Dmitry Bortniansky, Maxym Berezovsky.
“Chy znaemo pravdyvoho Bortnianskoho” [Do we know the genuine Bortniansky], Naukoviy visnyk, No. 6, 1999.
"Dmitry Bortniansky at 250: His Legacy as a Choral Symphonist," Choral Journal 42:1 (August 2001).
The Powers of Heaven (CD liner notes), Paul Hillier, Harmonia Mundi USA, 2003
In Progress: Critical Edition of the Thirty-Five Choral Concertos of Dmitry Bortniansky, Musica Russica.

Recordings
Elinor Armer and Ursula LeGuin, “Eating with the Hoi,” Music in Uttermost Parts
	Chamber Chorus of the University of California
	Koch International, 1995.
Icons of Slavic Music
	Chamber Chorus of the University of California
	Ameridisc, 1996 (currently out of print).
Forces of Nature (Film Soundtrack)
	Chamber Chorus of the University of California
	Dreamworks, 1999.
Richard L. Crocker, An Introduction to Gregorian Chant, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000. Examples of chant (solo vocals) for Compact Disc.
Gary Remal Malkin and Michael Stillwater, Graceful Passages
	Chamber Chorus of the University of California collaboration with Bay Area ensembles and leaders in the international religious community
	Companion Arts, 2000.
Dufay, Missa Ave regina celorum
	Chamber Chorus of the University of California
	Sanglier (division of Wildboar Records), 2003.
Of Songs and Seasons: music for a cappella chorus
	Brahms, Sieben Lieder für gemischten Chor, op. 62 and Dychko, Pory Roku
	Chamber Chorus of the University of California, 2004.*
Thow, John, Cantico, Chumash Songs, Eros and Dust
	Chamber Chorus of the University of California, Palatino Records, 2004.*
Liderman, Jorge, Song of Songs
	Chamber Chorus of the University of California with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players (chorus preparation)
	Bridge Records, 2005.*

Concert Reviews

New York Times October 2006, Purcell King Arthur, Mark Morris Dance Group.
	“…superior musical performance by the London cast and conductor, Jane Glover, paired with Philharmonia Baroque and the first-rate UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus.”
San Francisco Chronicle October 2006, Purcell King Arthur, Mark Morris Dance Group
	“The choral singing was flawless.”
San Francisco Classical Voice, March 2006, Bach Matthaus-Passion
	“The power of this group was nowhere more apparent than here [the final chorus, ‘Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder’]. In fact, I will give the crown in this performance to director Marika Kuzma, for the choruses were divine. This is an extremely difficult piece for the chorus, yet every nuance, every character shift was absolutely there.”
San Francisco Chronicle March 2002, Liderman Song of Songs, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players.
	“The most stirring contribution was the beautifully nuanced singing of Marika Kuzma’s UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus.”
New York Times June 1998, Rameau Platée, Mark Morris Dance Group
	“The Berkeley Chamber Chorus, singing from the pit... was excellent.”
San Francisco Classical Voice October 1998, Ernst Bacon Ecclesiastes, UC Chorus and Symphony
	“Conductor Marika Kuzma was completely in control of her forces and very sensitive to the demands of the music.”
Opera News December 1995, Handel Saul, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
	“The powerful concentration of Marika Kuzma’s University of California Chamber Chorus provided an exciting backdrop for the soloists.”
San Francisco Examiner September 1995 Handel Saul, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra.
	“All might have taken a diction lesson from Kuzma’s lusty chorister who left no syllable unarticulated and no musical marvel unexplored.”
San Francisco Chronicle November 1995, Rzewski Lost Melody, Composers Inc.
	“The piece got a probing rendition... under the clear leadership of conductor Marika Kuzma.”
Washington Post May 1995 “Icons of Slavic Music” UC Chamber Chorus
	“The singing was intelligent, responsive, and well balanced.”
San Jose Mercury News March 1995 Purcell, King Arthur
	“The overall spirit and vocal inflection were delicious. Much of the credit goes to the chorus that the young director Marika Kuzma has turned into arguably the area’s pre-eminent collegiate ensemble.”

Updated 05/25/2007

Marika Kuzma Professor Virginia Chan Lew Chair in Music	University of California Berkeley Music Department

1977-81		John Motley Morehead Scholar
1979		Phi Beta Kappa
1989		Pi Kappa Lambda
1991		Finalist for Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award
1993		Julius Herford Prize, American Choral Directors Association
2001		Virginia Chan Lew Associate Professor of Music
2003		Song of Songs CD nominated for Grammy Award