Carmel Bach Festival Assistant Chorus Director John Koza retired June 30 concluding a 25-year affiliation. John and his wife Susan are moving to Tucson, AZ later this year.
Koza was responsible for recruitment and assisted with training of the 30+ member volunteer Chorus that supplemented the Chorale in larger works. Koza worked closely with Associate Conductor and Chorale and Chorus Director Andrew Megill.
“I have had the pleasure of working with John for more than a decade,” said Andrew Megill. “He has contributed to the Festival artistically as a singer in the Chorus and the Chorale, and as Assistant Conductor of the Chorus and Director of the Youth Chorus, and administratively, in his tireless work on behalf of his colleagues in the Chorus, his years organizing our youth chorus , and in the beautiful pre-concert lecture he delivered last summer. John’s attitude of service and love helped us create and maintain the sense of Festival as family that we are so proud of.
I will miss John’s love of poetry and his passion for choral music; musical skill and leadership; experience as singer, conductor, and administrator; and wit and eloquence. But mostly I will miss his generous friendship—for more than 20 years, John has embodied the qualities of excellence, service to others, and sense of connection between artists, audience, and patrons that are the hallmarks of the Carmel Bach Festival.”
Koza also was the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Camerata Singers and Director of Music for First Presbyterian Church, Monterey. He served as an adjunct faculty member at Hartnell College.
The entire Bach Festival board of directors and administrative staff thank John for his years of dedication to the Festival and wish him and Susan all the best. We look forward to seeing them in the audience for many seasons to come.