Tibor Kozma
Encyclopedia
Tibor Kozma was an American conductor
, pianist
, accompanist, and vocal coach
of Hungarian
birth. He began his career as an opera conductor in Europe and Ecuador before emigrating to the United States in 1941; ultimately becoming a United States citizen in 1945. He worked as a conductor, accompanist, and vocal coach in New York City during the 1940s and 1950s, notably serving on the conducting staff of the Metropolitan Opera
from 1950-1957. He then had a successful teaching career at the Jacobs School of Music
at Indiana University from 1957 until his death 19 years later.
, Kozma graduated from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music
in 1931. He then pursued further studies in Dresden
at the Hochschule für Musik "Carl Maria von Weber"
in the orchestral program associated with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden
. After graduating in 1933 he worked as an opera conductor in Europe.
At the outbreak of World War II, Kozma left Europe to join the conducting staff at the opera house
in Quito
, Ecuador
in 1939. In 1941 he emigrated to the United States and settled in New York City. He began his career there working as a conductor and vocal coach for Broadway
productions, notably conducting Porgy and Bess
and Eva Le Gallienne
's production of Alice and Wonderland. He also conducted the first national tour of Carmen Jones
and worked as an accompanist, notably playing for tenor Leslie Chabay in his New York City recital debut in 1950. In 1948 he became a vocal coach at the Metropolitan Opera
, eventually joining the conducting staff in 1950.
Kozma made his conducting debut at the Metropolitan Opera House
on January 4, 1951, leading a production of Johann Strauss II
's Die Fledermaus
with a cast that included Marguerite Piazza
as Rosalinde, Set Svanholm
as Eisenstein, Patrice Munsel
as Adele, Eugene Conley
as Alfred, and Jarmila Novotná
as Prince Orlofsky. He conducted a total of 82 performances at the house over the next six years, including performances of Modest Mussorgsky
's Boris Godunov
(with Jerome Hines
and Nell Rankin
), Georges Bizet
's Carmen
(with Risë Stevens
and Richard Tucker
), Ruggero Leoncavallo
's Pagliacci
(with Lucine Amara
, Ramon Vinay
, and Robert Merrill
), Giuseppe Verdi
's Un ballo in maschera
(with Zinka Milanov
, Jan Peerce
, Roberta Peters
, and Marian Anderson
), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
's Die Zauberflöte (with Theodor Uppman
and Mildred Allen
), and Richard Wagner
's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
(with Otto Edelmann
, Albert Da Costa, and Martha Lipton
). His final assignment at the Met was on March 30, 1957, conducting Giacomo Puccini
's La Bohème
with Dorothy Kirsten
as Mimì, Richard Tucker as Rodolfo, Laurel Hurley as Musetta, and Ettore Bastianini
as Marcello.
Outside of the Met, Koza was active as a conductor at the Empire State Music Festival during the 1950s. On July 1, 1954 he conducted a concert version of Johann Strauss II
's Die Fledermaus
at the Lewisohn Stadium
with Lois Hunt
as Adele, Regina Resnik
as Rosalinda, Charles Kullman
as Alfred, and Betty Allen
as Prince Orlofsky. In 1960 he led Birgit Nilsson
in concert at Carnegie Hall
. He also worked as a guest conductor at a number of European opera houses during the 1950s and 1960s.
Kozma left the Metropolitan Opera staff to join the music faculty at Indiana University for the Fall semester of 1957. He served as the head of the school's conducting and opera theatre programs, leading the Indiana University Philharmonic and the Indiana University Opera Theatre until his death in a tragic car accident in Bloomington, Indiana
in 1976. In his will he left his large collection of books and musical scores, the "Kozma Collection", to the music library at Indiana University.
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
, pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, accompanist, and vocal coach
Vocal coach
A vocal coach is a music teacher who instructs singers on how to improve their singing technique, take care of and develop their voice, and prepare for the performance of a song or other work. Vocal coaches may give private music lessons to singers, or they may coach singers who are rehearsing on...
of Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
birth. He began his career as an opera conductor in Europe and Ecuador before emigrating to the United States in 1941; ultimately becoming a United States citizen in 1945. He worked as a conductor, accompanist, and vocal coach in New York City during the 1940s and 1950s, notably serving on the conducting staff of the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
from 1950-1957. He then had a successful teaching career at the Jacobs School of Music
Jacobs School of Music
The Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music...
at Indiana University from 1957 until his death 19 years later.
Biography
Born in BudapestBudapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Kozma graduated from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music
Franz Liszt Academy of Music
The Franz Liszt Academy of Music is a concert hall and music conservatory in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875...
in 1931. He then pursued further studies in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
at the Hochschule für Musik "Carl Maria von Weber"
Hochschule für Musik "Carl Maria von Weber"
The "Carl Maria von Weber" College of Music is a college of music in Dresden, Germany.- History :...
in the orchestral program associated with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden
Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden
The Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden is an orchestra based in Dresden, Germany founded in 1548 by Kurfürst Moritz of Saxony. It is one of the world's oldest orchestras...
. After graduating in 1933 he worked as an opera conductor in Europe.
At the outbreak of World War II, Kozma left Europe to join the conducting staff at the opera house
Opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
in Quito
Quito
San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
in 1939. In 1941 he emigrated to the United States and settled in New York City. He began his career there working as a conductor and vocal coach for Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
productions, notably conducting Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
and Eva Le Gallienne
Eva Le Gallienne
Eva Le Gallienne was a well-known actress, producer, and director, during the first half of the 20th century.-Early life and early career:...
's production of Alice and Wonderland. He also conducted the first national tour of Carmen Jones
Carmen Jones
Carmen Jones is a 1943 Broadway musical starring Muriel Smith in the title role, later made into a 1954 musical film; the play also ran for a season in 1991 at London's Old Vic and most recently in London's Royal Festival Hall in the Southbank Centre in 2007. It is an updating of the Georges Bizet...
and worked as an accompanist, notably playing for tenor Leslie Chabay in his New York City recital debut in 1950. In 1948 he became a vocal coach at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, eventually joining the conducting staff in 1950.
Kozma made his conducting debut at the Metropolitan Opera House
Metropolitan Opera House (39th St)
The Metropolitan Opera House was an opera house located at 1411 Broadway in New York City. Opened in 1883 and demolished in 1967, it was the first home of the Metropolitan Opera Company.-History:...
on January 4, 1951, leading a production of Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
's Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
with a cast that included Marguerite Piazza
Marguerite Piazza
Marguerite Piazza is an American soprano and entertainer.In 1935, Piazza was the first Queen of the Krewe of Virgilians, during Mardi Gras, in New Orleans. A 1940 graduate of Loyola University of the South's College of Music, she then studied at Louisiana State University, where she was a student...
as Rosalinde, Set Svanholm
Set Svanholm
Set Svanholm was a Swedish operatic tenor, considered the leading Tristan and Siegfried of the first decade following World War II....
as Eisenstein, Patrice Munsel
Patrice Munsel
Patrice Munsel is an American coloratura soprano, the youngest singer who ever starred at the Metropolitan Opera, nicknamed "Princess Pat"....
as Adele, Eugene Conley
Eugene Conley
Eugene Conley was a celebrated American operatic tenor.Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, Conley studied under Ettore Verna, and made his official debut as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1940...
as Alfred, and Jarmila Novotná
Jarmila Novotná
Jarmila Novotná was a celebrated Czech soprano and actress and, from 1940 to 1956, a star of the Metropolitan Opera.-Early career:...
as Prince Orlofsky. He conducted a total of 82 performances at the house over the next six years, including performances of Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
's Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov (opera)
Boris Godunov is an opera by Modest Mussorgsky . The work was composed between 1868 and 1873 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is Mussorgsky's only completed opera and is considered his masterpiece. Its subjects are the Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar during the Time of Troubles,...
(with Jerome Hines
Jerome Hines
The American Jerome A. Hines was a basso opera singer who performed at the Metropolitan Opera from 1946 to 1987...
and Nell Rankin
Nell Rankin
Nell Rankin was an American operatic mezzo-soprano. Although a successful opera singer internationally, she spent most of her career at the Metropolitan Opera where she worked from 1951-1976. Rankin was particularly admired for her portrayals of Amneris in Verdi's Aida and the title role in...
), Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
's Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
(with Risë Stevens
Risë Stevens
Risë Stevens is a retired American operatic mezzo-soprano.-Professional life:Stevens studied at New York's Juilliard School for three years. She went to Vienna, where she was trained by Marie Gutheil-Schoder and Herbert Graf. She made her début as Mignon in Prague in 1936 and stayed there until...
and Richard Tucker
Richard Tucker
Richard Tucker was an American operatic tenor.-Early life:Tucker was born Rivn Ticker in Brooklyn, New York, into a family of Romanian immigrants from Bessarabia. His father, Shmul Ticker, and mother Fanya-Tsipa Ticker had already adopted the surname "Tucker" by the time their son entered first...
), Ruggero Leoncavallo
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Ruggero Leoncavallo was an Italian opera composer. His two-act work Pagliacci remains one of the most popular works in the repertory, appearing as number 20 on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide.-Biography:...
's Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
(with Lucine Amara
Lucine Amara
Lucine Amara is an American soprano who was largely based at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.-Biography:Amara was born Lucine Armaganian in Hartford, Connecticut, of Armenian heritage, before moving to San Francisco where she was raised.She studied at the San Francisco's Community Music School...
, Ramon Vinay
Ramón Vinay
Ramón Vinay was a famous Chilean operatic tenor with a powerful, dramatic voice. He is probably best remembered for his appearances in the title role of Giuseppe Verdi's tragic opera Otello....
, and Robert Merrill
Robert Merrill
Robert Merrill was an American operatic baritone.-Early life:Merrill was born Moishe Miller, later known as Morris Miller, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, to tailor Abraham Miller, originally Milstein, and his wife Lillian, née Balaban, immigrants from Warsaw, Poland.His mother...
), Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
(with Zinka Milanov
Zinka Milanov
Zinka Milanov was a Croatian-born operatic spinto soprano who had a major career centred on the New York Metropolitan Opera.-Biography:...
, Jan Peerce
Jan Peerce
Jan Peerce was an American operatic tenor. Peerce was an accomplished performer on the operatic and Broadway concert stages, in solo recitals, and as a recording artist. He is the father of film director Larry Peerce....
, Roberta Peters
Roberta Peters
Roberta Peters is an American coloratura soprano.One of the most prominent American singers to achieve lasting fame and success in opera, Peters is noted for her 35-year association with the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York...
, and Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson was an African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century...
), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Die Zauberflöte (with Theodor Uppman
Theodor Uppman
Theodor Uppman was an American operatic baritone. He is best known for his creation of the title role in Benjamin Britten's opera Billy Budd....
and Mildred Allen
Mildred Allen (soprano)
Mildred Allen is an American operatic soprano who had an active career during the 1950s and 1960s. She notably was a regular performer at the Metropolitan Opera between 1957 and 1962. She later became a member of the voice faculty at Birmingham-Southern College where she taught from...
), and Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is an opera in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. It is among the longest operas still commonly performed today, usually taking around four and a half hours. It was first performed at the Königliches Hof- und National-Theater in Munich, on June 21,...
(with Otto Edelmann
Otto Edelmann
Otto Edelmann was an Austrian bass. He was born in Vienna and studied singing in Vienna with Gunnar Graarud. His debut was at Gera as Figaro in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. He later sang the Vienna State Opera, the Edinburgh Festival and the Metropolitan Opera...
, Albert Da Costa, and Martha Lipton
Martha Lipton
Martha Lipton was an American operatic mezzo-soprano.-Biography:Lipton was born in New York City. She won a scholarship to the Juilliard School and made her debut as Pauline in Tchaikovsky's opera The Queen of Spades for the New Opera Company in Manhattan in 1941...
). His final assignment at the Met was on March 30, 1957, conducting Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's La Bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
with Dorothy Kirsten
Dorothy Kirsten
Dorothy Kirsten was an American operatic soprano.-Biography:...
as Mimì, Richard Tucker as Rodolfo, Laurel Hurley as Musetta, and Ettore Bastianini
Ettore Bastianini
Ettore Bastianini was an Italian opera singer who was particularly associated with the operas of Verdi. He had a prolific international career between 1945 and 1965 which was cut short by throat cancer. He began his professional career as a bass working in opera houses throughout Italy and in...
as Marcello.
Outside of the Met, Koza was active as a conductor at the Empire State Music Festival during the 1950s. On July 1, 1954 he conducted a concert version of Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
's Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
at the Lewisohn Stadium
Lewisohn Stadium
Lewisohn Stadium was an amphitheater and athletic facility built on the campus of the City College of New York. It opened in 1915 and was demolished in 1973.-History:...
with Lois Hunt
Lois Hunt
Lois Hunt was an American lyric soprano who had spent some of her earlier career performing at New York City's Metropolitan Opera and later spent four decades performing and recording classical music and musical theater numbers nationwide together with baritone Earl Wrightson.-Early life and...
as Adele, Regina Resnik
Regina Resnik
Regina Resnik is an American operatic singer.Regina Resnik, the American mezzo-soprano, started a dramatic career ten months after earning her B.A. in Music at Hunter College. The role was Lady Macbeth under Fritz Busch in December, 1942 with the New Opera Company. A few months later, she sang...
as Rosalinda, Charles Kullman
Charles Kullman
Charles Kullman , originally Charles Kullmann, was an American tenor who enjoyed a wide-ranging career, both in Europe and America.- Life and career :...
as Alfred, and Betty Allen
Betty Allen
Betty Allen was a renowned American operatic mezzo-soprano who had an active international singing career during the 1950s through the 1970s...
as Prince Orlofsky. In 1960 he led Birgit Nilsson
Birgit Nilsson
right|thumb|Nilsson in 1948.Birgit Nilsson was a celebrated Swedish dramatic soprano who specialized in operatic and symphonic works...
in concert at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. He also worked as a guest conductor at a number of European opera houses during the 1950s and 1960s.
Kozma left the Metropolitan Opera staff to join the music faculty at Indiana University for the Fall semester of 1957. He served as the head of the school's conducting and opera theatre programs, leading the Indiana University Philharmonic and the Indiana University Opera Theatre until his death in a tragic car accident in Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
in 1976. In his will he left his large collection of books and musical scores, the "Kozma Collection", to the music library at Indiana University.