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Joseph Huszti is Professor of Music and Director of the Choral Program in the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine. During his tenure at Irvine, twenty international concert tours have included prize winning performances at the World Choral Games, Xiamen, China (2006); International Musical Eisteddfod, Llangollen, Wales (1979, 1986, 1992, 1997, 2008); Béla Bartók International Choral Competition, Debrecen, Hungary (1988, 1994, 2000) and the Koorfest, den Haag, Holland (1979). Each festival/competition requires a juried audition for participation and the UC Irvine choirs were the sole representatives from the United States of America in their mixed choir categories. The choirs have performed concerts in the cathedrals of York, Sterling, Westminster, Coventry, Canterbury, Ely, Burgos, Liverpool, St. Paul’s (London) and Boston as well as formal concerts in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Taipei, Budapest, Warsaw, Prague, Beijing, Shanghai, Mexico City, London and Vienna. The California Chamber Singers were one of seven international choirs invited to perform at the World Choral Festival in Seoul, Korea in 1992. They were invited to the Alava Festival in Spain, 1995, again representing the United States of America. The National ACE (Achievement in Cablecasting Excellence) award was presented to the Chamber Singers in 1982 for their Madrigal Dinner Festival. They also accepted invitations to perform at international festivals in Spain (2000) and Mexico (2002). The Chamber Singers have been invited to Alava (Spain) as part of the twenty-fifth anniversary year of this international festival. The use of ensemble movement and positioning is an innovative aspect of the UC Irvine choral ensembles. The concept has attracted interest by many international chamber choirs, including those from Hungary, Chile, Poland, Germany, Korea, Mexico, Venezuela, Republic of China, Philippines and others where the Chamber Singers and the Men in Blaque have performed. The Men in Blaque, the eclectic vocal ensemble performing literature from many eras and in different musical styles, was formed in 1997. They accepted an unprecedented invitation (festival rules preclude an ensemble from participating more than one time) by the Alava Festival to perform in Spain and presented a memorable concert on September 11, 2001. The Men in Blaque were one of seven international choral ensembles invited to Puebla, Mexico in 2003 to present concerts at the Festival Coro Mundo. The inaugural Daegu International Choral Festival (Korea) invited the Men in Blaque to represent the United States in 2004 along with six international chamber choirs. They participated in the 2006 World Choral Games in Xiamen, China and won two silver medals and a gold diploma for winning their division. Three CD recordings, I Wonder As I Wander, Live in Spain and Many Moods have been produced. Visit the Men In Blaque web site. The Madrigal Dinner, produced by the choral organizations in conjunction with the department of music, was produced for three decades, spearheaded by the Chamber Singers, and has been recognized as one of the significant achievements in the first twenty-five year history of the University of California, Irvine. This re-creation of the court of Henry VIII includes the music, dancing and feasting by members of the “court”. Authentic instruments, costumes designed from paintings by Hans Holbein and music by Henry VIII form the essential core of the ACE award-winning production. Visit the website, UCIMadrigal.com. The Chamber Singers are credited in the IMAX production "To the Limit". Six choirs currently form the nucleus of the Choral Organizations and includes singers from most major disciplines within the university. Huszti headed the choral activities at Boston University's School for the Arts and directed the Young Vocalists Program at Tanglewood from 1972-1977. During his tenure, musical collaborations took place with Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Norman Dello Joio, Joseph Silverstein and artists from the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Students of his include Kristine Ciesinski, operatic soprano; Beverly Taylor, Professor, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Edward Maclary, Professor, University of Maryland; Jonathan Reed, Professor, Michigan State University; Jo Ellen Miano, Professor, SUNY, Plattsburg; Buddy James, California State University, East Bay and numerous former students teaching at colleges throughout the United States. James Dunaway, a former student, director of the Davidson School of Arts choirs, received the Grammy Award for the outstanding high school singing ensemble program in the United States in 2005. Zach Halop, UCI MFA in Choral Conducting, was one of the six runners-up for the Grammy Award in 2005. During Huszti’s tenure as director of the choral and voice programs at the University of Delaware, the Concert Choir toured nine European countries and competed in two international choral festivals. At the Koorfest in Holland (1971), the choir was awarded second prize and in the International Musical Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales (1971), the choir placed second in the Adult Mixed Choir Division (Ordo I). In 1965 the Bakersfield College Choir, under Huszti's direction, won first prize in the International Musical Eisteddfod at Llangollen, Wales. This winning award was the first by an American choir in the Adult Mixed Choir Division (Ordo I) and brought the coveted International Trophy to the United States. President Lyndon B. Johnson held a special White House press conference upon the choirs’ return to the United States. Pope Paul VI presented Huszti the Ecumenical Medal, both the choir and he were afforded a private audience by His Eminence. A native of Ohio, Joseph Huszti received performance degrees from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. Advanced studies were undertaken at the University of California at Los Angeles, Occidental College, the University of Southern California, the Ohio State University and the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton. His principal teachers included Howard Swan, William Vennard, Ewald V. Nolte, Helmuth Rilling, Otto Werner-Mueller and Todd Duncan. Huszti participated in the Baroque Performance Institute at Oberlin College in 1995. Active as a guest conductor and clinician, he has conducted performances in 38 states and 26 foreign countries. A life member in the American Choral Director's Association, Huszti served as state president in Delaware and Massachusetts and as Western Division president. He is also a founding member of NCCO (National Collegiate Choral Organization). He has served for three separate terms as President of the PSICA (Pacific Southwest Intercollegiate Choral Association). Huszti is one of 30 American choral conductors featured in the book, In Quest of Answers published by Hinshaw Press. He has served as Chair of the Executive Committee in the School of the Arts three separate times and received the Distinguished University Service Award, "Lauds and Laurels" in 1991. In 1995, Huszti was selected the Favorite Professor in the School of the Arts. In 1996, Professor Huszti was inducted into Golden Key, National Honor Society and delivered the keynote address and received the Associated Students Teaching Award in 1998. Huszti was elected the Outstanding Professor in the School of the Arts by the 2001 senior class. Huszti presented the keynote address and several workshops to 200 music teachers and conductors in South Korea in 2005. The UCI Choirs enjoyed success at the 2008 International Musical Eisteddfod by winning First Prize and the International Trophy in Female Choirs, Second Prize in Youth Choirs and participating as finalists in The Choir of the World.
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UC Irvine Choirs