11 Facts About Tibor Kozma

Tibor Kozma was an American conductor, pianist, accompanist, and vocal coach of Hungarian birth.

Tibor Kozma 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.

Tibor Kozma then had a successful teaching career at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University from 1957 until his death 19 years later.

Tibor Kozma then pursued further studies in Dresden at the Hochschule fur Musik "Carl Maria von Weber" in the orchestral program associated with the Sachsische Staatskapelle Dresden.

At the outbreak of World War II, Tibor Kozma left Europe to join the conducting staff at the opera house in Quito, Ecuador in 1939.

Tibor Kozma 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.

Tibor 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 Novotna as Prince Orlofsky.

Outside of the Met, Tibor Kozma was active as a conductor at the Empire State Music Festival during the 1950s.

Tibor Kozma worked as a guest conductor at a number of European opera houses during the 1950s and 1960s.

Tibor Kozma left the Metropolitan Opera staff to join the music faculty at Indiana University for the Fall semester of 1957.

Tibor Kozma 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 car crash in Bloomington, Indiana in 1976.