Conductor
Marika Kuzma has led hundreds of performances with student, community, and professional ensembles—both choral and instrumental—in venues around the globe. While leading the choral program at the University of California, Berkeley, for 25 years, she also guest conducted various ensembles. Her repertoire spans music from many countries and from the Medieval era to premieres of New Music.
Of Ukrainian descent, maestra Kuzma has gained particular recognition for her scholarship, performances, and recordings of Slavic music.
From 2022 to 2024, since Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine, Kuzma’s work has focused on leading fund-raisers for Ukraine, advising colleagues in Ukrainian repertoire, and publishing material on Ukrainian music.
Below is a sample list concerts from the 1990s to 2021, showing a breadth of repertoire, media, and venues. A full repertoire list is available upon request.
Sample List of Concerts Conducted:
International repertoire, Ukraine-centered concerts
2023 Guest Engagements
• Sing Like a Bird, Sing like a Ukrainian
Greenstage Guilford Arts Festival
September 23• Sacred Land: Songs and Verses of Resilience from Ukraine.
Ensemble Cherubim
June 25 New Haven Festival of Arts and Ideas
June 26 Pope John Paul II Shrine, Washington, D.C.• Ukraine Spring. With the Paul Winter Consort.
Fundraiser for World Central Kitchen Ukraine
March 25 at Church of the Assumption, Ansonia, CT.• From Darkness to Light. Fundraiser for Doctors United for Ukraine.
with actors Richard Flanders, Lori Lowe, Mariah Sage, Anne Tarpey, Luke Williams
and pianist Victor Markiw, singers Kyle Picha and Gene Stenger.
March 12 at the Legacy Theater, Branford, CT.
2022 Guest Engagements
• Cape Symphony with Trio Viva, Chatham Chorale. Barnstable, MA
American premiere of Shchedryk symphonic arrangement by
Bogdan Kryvopust. December 2–4, 2022• Richard Taruskin Memorial. Berkeley, CA
Alumni of UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus. Works by Glinka and Stravinsky
October 8, 2022• Pioneer Valley Symphony. Springfield, MA
with Teryn Kuzma, Gene Stenger, Geoffroy Salvas and chorus
Led excerpts from Lysenko, Zaporozhets za Dunayem.
Fund-raiser for Ukraine. May 25, 2022• Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Fellows recital. Bruno Walter Hall, NYC
Led Lysenko, “Prayer for Ukraine”
April 8, 2022• St. Joseph’s Cathedral Choir with Paul Winter, Solomiya Ivakhiv,
and members of the Hartford Symphony
Led music by Bortniansky, Koshetz, Kotko, Skoryk.
Fund-raiser for Ukraine. April 3, 2022• Newman Holy Spirit Chapel. Berkeley, CA
with Clarissa Lyons, Stefano Flavoni, alumni of the UC Chamber Chorus,
guest speakers.
Music by Bortniansky, Dychko, Kotko
Fund-raiser for Ukraine. March 5, 2022
Harrison, La Koro Sutro (2012)
Chamber Chorus of the University of California
with Sacred and Profane Chamber Chorus and
American Gamelan, Willy Winant, director
Part of Lou Harrison retrospective
Berkeley Art Museum
Britten, War Requiem (2009)
Review: Landscapes of War
University Chorus and Alumni Chorus, UC Berkeley
with Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir
and soloists Janice Chandler-Eteme, Brian Staufenbiel, Christophèren Nomura and guest orchestra(s)
Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA
Carmina Burana, medieval version (2007)
University Chamber Chorus with guest musicians
Frances Feldon, Cheryl Fulton, Kit Higginson, Shira Kammen, Peter Maund, Roy Wheldon
Based on archival materials from Thomas Binkley.
St. Dominic’s Church, San Francisco
Mendelssohn, Elijah (2006)
University Chorus, UC Berkeley
with soloists Bojan Knezevic, Clarissa Lyons, Katherine Growdon, Jonathan Smucker. Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco
Rachmaninoff, Vsenoshchnoye bdenie [Vespers] (2004)
Oakland Symphony Chorus and University Chorus, UC Berkeley
with soloists Victor Floyd, Nikolai Massenkoff
Ascension Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Oakland, CA
Brahms, Ein deutsches Requiem (2003)
University Chorus, UC Berkeley
with soloists Marguerite Krull, David Newman and guest orchestra
Hertz Hall, Berkeley, CA
“Pange lingua” concert of medieval music (1999)
Chamber Chorus of the University of California alongside various San Francisco Bay Area ensembles.
Plainchant, works by Perotin
Grace Cathedral, San Francisco
Verdi, Requiem (1997)
Handel Society of Dartmouth College
with soloists Jane Ohmes, Martha Jane Howe, Mark Evans, Chester Patton
The Hopkins Center, Hanover, NH
Rzewski, Lost Melody, American premiere (1995)
Composers Inc.
Herbst Auditorium, San Francisco, CA
Handel, Messiah: A Prayer for Peace (2024)
Ensemble Cherubim and San Francisco Bay Area Period Musicians
Part of the Berkeley Festival & Exhibition of Early Music
Details TBA
Echoes from Ukraine (2022)
Ensemble Cherubim
with actors Joy Carlin, L. Peter Callender, Patrick Russell
Ancient chant, works by Berezovsky, Bortniansky, Dyletsky, others
Hertz Hall, University of California Berkeley
Part of the Berkeley Festival & Exhibition of Early Music
An Anglo Ukrainian Christmas (2021)
Ensemble Cherubim
with narrators Jonathan Lynn and Vira Slywocky
Works by Dawson, Vaughan Williams, Stetsenko, Yakovchuk, others
Bethesda Lutheran Church, New Haven
Ukrainian Institute of America, New York City
A Ukrainian Christmas (2019)
Review: Straddling Worlds
Review: Concert Extends Christmas Into The New Year
Cappella Romana
Works by Leontovich, Stetsenko, Yakovchuk, others
St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, Seattle
St. Mary’s Cathedral, Portland
St. Ignatius Church, San Francisco
Mendelssohn, Symphony No. 2 Lobgesang (2015)
University Chorus and Chamber Chorus of the University of California
with guest orchestra.
Including works by Trevor Weston Ma’at Musings
Hertz Hall, Berkeley, CA
J. S. Bach, Mass in B Minor (2015)
Chamber Chorus of the University of California
with orchestra of period musicians
Hertz Hall, Berkeley, CA
a cappella NEXT (2014)
Works by Dychko, Estrada, Felciano, Liderman, Weston
Chamber Chorus of the University of California
Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, New York
Orff, Carmina Burana (2013)
University Chorus with guest chamber orchestra
and soloists Candace Johnson, Thomas Glenn, Zachary Gordon.
Hertz Hall, Berkeley, CA
Feldman, Rothko Chapel (2011)
Chamber Chorus of the University of California
with Abel-Steinberg-Winant Trio
Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland, CA
“Dona nobis pacem” (2008)
St. Lawrence Choir/Choeur St.-Laurent and Ensemble Amati Orchestra
Including Barber, Adagio for Strings; Current Inventions on Et in terra pax (world premiere); Haydn Mass in the Time of War with soloists Ann Monoyios, Marion Newman, Antonio Figueroa, Alexandre Sylvestre; and works by Cotel and MacMillan.
Église Saint-Viateur, Montreal, Quebec
J. S. Bach, St. Matthew Passion (2006)
University Chorus and Chamber Chorus of the University of California
with orchestra of period musicians and soloists Alan Bennett, Benjamin Park, Ann Moss, Katherine Growdon, Thomas Glenn, Jeremy Galyon
Hertz Hall, Berkeley, CA
Stravinsky, Svadebka [Les noces] (2005)
University Chorus, UC Berkeley
with soloists Tara Generalovich, Marianna Kulikova, Thomas Glenn, Lucas Meacham and guest chamber ensemble
Part of international symposium on Mikhail Glinka
Hertz Hall, Berkeley, CA
Schütz, Musikalische Exequien (2003)
Chamber Chorus of the University of California
Grace Cathedral, San Francisco
Handel, Messiah (2000)
University Singers, University of Virginia
with orchestra of period musicians and
soloists Marilyn Taylor, Jennifer Lane, Wolodymyr Smishkewych, Daniel Cole. Old Cabell Hall, Charlottesville, VA
“Twentieth-Century Choral Music” (1999)
Chamber Chorus of the University of California
Lesia Dychko, Pory roku (Seasons)
Richard Felciano, The Seasons
Steve Reich, Tehillim
Hertz Hall, Berkeley
Dufay, Missa Ave regina celorum (1996)
Chamber Chorus of the University of California
Berkeley Early Music Festival
St. Mark’s Church, Berkeley, CA
Takemitsu, Gemeaux, American premiere (1993)
Berkeley Symphony Orchestra
co-conducted with Kent Nagano
Zellerbach Auditorium, Berkeley, CA
Photos above, clockwise, Moran, Stimmen des letzten Siegels with the UC Chamber Chorus 2005; Kryvopust, Shchedryk with the Cape Symphony 2022 (photo by Paul Blackmore); Bach, B minor Mass 2013.
At St. Paul’s Chapel, Trinity Wall Street with singers of the UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus and composer Trevor Weston.