Marika Kuzma

Marika Kuzma has achieved renown in the Bay Area and beyond as a choral director, chorusmaster for orchestras, and mentor to singers. She was a professor of music at the University of California, Berkeley, for some twenty-five years, directing its symphonic University Chorus and Chamber Chorus. Under her direction, the UC Chamber Chorus achieved critical acclaim—particularly for its readings of early and contemporary music—with glowing reviews in the San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, and Washington Post. She has also been invited to prepare choirs for orchestras and conductors such as Joana Carneiro (Berkeley Symphony); Gustavo Dudamel (Simon Bolivar Orchestra); Nicholas McGegan and Jane Glover (Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra); Esa-Pekka Salonen (Philharmonia Orchestra of London); Kent Nagano (Youth Orchestra of the Americas and Montreal Symphony). Of Ukrainian descent, Ms. Kuzma has a special affinity for Slavic choral music. She has been invited to write articles in international journals and give talks on Dmitry Bortniansky and Igor Stravinsky across the United States and at the Kiev and Moscow conservatories. Her critical edition of Bortniansky’s choral concertos was published last year by Carus International, and her recording of Bortniansky’s music was released on the Naxos International label. Her former UC students now sing in elite choirs around the world, on stage including the Metropolitan Opera, at the National Cathedral, and in the film studios of Los Angeles.