A native of Pittsburgh, Andy Kozar is a New York City based trumpeter, improviser, composer and educator that has been called a "star soloist" by TimeOutNY, and has been said to be "agile as he navigates leaps and slurs with grace...he shifts between lyricism and aggression deftly" by the International Trumpet Guild Journal. A strong advocate of contemporary music, he is a founding member of the contemporary music quartet loadbang, which has been called "inventive" by the New York Times,"cultivated" by The New Yorker and "a formidable new-music force" by TimeOutNY. Kozar is also a member of TILT Brass and the Byrne:KozarDuo, and has performed with new music ensembles including Bang on a Can, Ensemble Signal, Argento Chamber Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, Ensemble Echappe, Ensemble ACJW, Wet Ink and Mark Gould's Pink Baby Monster. He has also performed alongside artists such as Dave Douglas, Pablo Heras Casado, James Thompson, Mark Gould and Brad Lubman, in addition to working closely with numerous composers including Helmut Lachenmann, Augusta Reed Thomas, Christian Wolff and Pulitzer Prize winning composers David Lang and Charles Wuorinen. Kozar has performed at venues both domestically and abroad including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, MoMA, Rothko Chapel, The Barclays Center and Shanghai Symphony Hall.
Equally well-versed in the traditional repertoire, Kozar is the principal trumpet of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra and has performed with the Stamford and Hudson Valley Philharmonics. As a baroque trumpeter, he has performed as a part of the Boston Early Music Festival and with ensembles including Rebel Baroque, American Baroque Orchestra, The Bach Players of Holy Trinity in New York City, at St. Thomas alongside the St. Thomas Boys Choir and with Ensemble Musica Humana.
In addition to contemporary and traditional classical music, Kozar's versatility has allowed him the opportunity to perform with the Grammy nominated Travis Sullivan's Bjorkestra; Russian pop-stars Tamara Gverdtsiteli and Igor Krutoi; indie pop bands including YUCK, the Generationals and Emanuel and the Fear; and on Broadway's Mary Poppins.
As a commercial recording artist, Kozar can be heard on indie pop albums by Yuck on Mercury Records, Emanuel and the Fear and Bennett Lin. He can also be heard on the Hollywood film Sushi Girl and on PBS' special featuring baritone Paul Byrom from Celtic Thunder. As a classical recording artist, Kozar can be heard on labels including Mode Records, New Focus Recordings, Bridge Records and ANALOG Arts.
Kozar has studied with Anthony Pasquarelli, James Thompson, Brian McWhorter, Jens Lindemann and Mark Gould. He has studied at Carnegie Mellon University, and holds a BM from the Eastman School of Music and a MM in contemporary performance from the Manhattan School of Music. He has given lectures and masterclasses at institutions including The Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, New York University and Northwestern University. Kozar regularly works as a teaching artist for the American Composers Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic's Very Young Composers program. He is on faculty at the North Carolina Governor's School, Hunter College and the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Boston where, in addition to teaching trumpet, he is the Chair of the Winds and Brass Department and co-directs Ensemble Uncaged, Longy's contemporary music ensemble.
Andy is a Yamaha Performing Artist and exclusively performs on Yamaha trumpets.
