Andrew Kozar, Trumpet 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, noted for his "precise trumpeting" by New York Classical Review and has been said to be "agile as he navigated leaps and slurs with grace... he shifted 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 "formidable new-music force" by TimeOutNY. With loadbang, his playing has been said to be "polished and dynamic, with very impressive playing" by the Baltimore Sun, and that he "coaxed the ethereal and the gritty from [his] muted instrument... and revealed a facility for shaping notes and color" by the San Francisco Classical Voice. He is also a member the Byrne:KozarDuo, and has performed with new music ensembles including Bang on a Can, Ensemble Signal, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Argento Chamber Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, Ensemble Echappe, Tilt Brass, Wet Ink, Boston Music Viva, and Mark Gould´s Pink Baby Monster. He has performed alongside artists and conductors 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, Christian Wolff, Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away), George Lewis, Chaya Czernowin, 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. A flexible performer well versed in many styles, he has performed with the St. Petersburg Ballet, Wordless Music Orchestra, the Ostravska Banda (Czech Rep.), the Stamford and Hudson Valley Philharmonics, and was the principal trumpet of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra from 2014-2018. As a baroque trumpeter, he has performed as a part of the Boston Early Music Festival and with period performance ensembles including Rebel Baroque Orchestra, American Baroque Orchestra, The Bach Players of Holy Trinity in New York City, Ensemble Musica Humana, and at St. Thomas alongside the St. Thomas Boys Choir. In addition to contemporary and traditional classical music, his versatility has also 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, with Bang on a Can´s Asphalt Orchestra, and on Broadway´s Mary Poppins. ... Andrew Kozar