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The American soprano, composer and music teacher, Marybeth Kurnat, obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Northern Illinois University (2006-2011), where she studied voice with Diane Ragains and saxophone with Steve Duke. She also attended additional graduate courses in Music Education at VanderCook College of Music (2013).
Marybeth Kurnat is a rising voice in modern choral music. Her debut work, Epitaph For A Romantic Woman, was premiered by the St. Charles Singers in October 2021. Her SATB work, I, Lover, was the 2021-2022 winner of True Concord’s Stephen Paulus Emerging Composers’ Competition. She premiered her work, The Lagoon, as a 2023 Composition Fellow for the PREMIERE|Project Festival. Eight of her new choral works received world premieres throughout 2023 in Illinois, California, Arizona, and Louisiana, and six more will be premiered throughout 2024 and 2025 by high school, collegiate and professional ensembles. She has been commissioned by soprano Elizabeth Shuman, Chicago Choral Artists, Baker Memorial Church of St. Charles, The Giving Voices Collective, Northern Illinois University School of Music, Spectra Singers, and DeKalb High School.
Described as “transcendent” and “otherworldly,” Marybeth Kurnat's compositional voice is strongly influenced by her musical roots as a jazz saxophonist - most clearly illustrated in her colorful, adventurous harmonic vocabulary and unique command of rhythm. She has received especially high praise for her piano writing. Her compositional influences include Brad Mehldau, Wayne Shorter, Jacob Collier, Rollo Dilworth, and Stephen Paulus. Her arranging portfolio also includes music for jazz ensemble, concert band, chamber music, string orchestra, and commercial a cappella. She is an ASCAP-registered composer and publisher, and her music is available for purchase on MusicSpoke.
Marybeth Kurnat has taught in Illinois public schools since 2012, and has taught privately as a woodwind instructor since 2006. She currently serves as the Assistant Band Director at Huntley Middle School in DeKalb, Illinois (since August 2017) and as a vocal and instrumental music educator for the DeKalb School District (since January 2018). She is a District 8 Representative for the Illinois Music Education Association. She was a Student Composition Track clinician at the 2024 ILMEA All-State Festival, and will return to that post in January 2025. She has also presented professional development to music educators on integrating composition into the secondary music classroom.
In addition to teaching and composing, Marybeth Kurnat writes poetry, and maintains an active performance schedule as a choral singer and soprano soloist in the greater Chicago area. She regularly appears with the St. Charles Singers (since May 2016), Chicago Choral Artists (since August 2016; also serves on the Board of Directors as Vice President; ; Director: Michael D. Costello), Grant Park Music Festival Chorus (since June 2019), Canterbury Singers and Grace Parish Choir in River Forest, Illinois (since April 2017; Director: Michael D. Costello). She has built her reputation as a singer on the foundation of her instrumental training as a jazz saxophonist, and her dynamic performing and teaching background is accompanied by a history in composing and arranging for choir and wind ensemble. As a singer, she has developed a strong interest in early Baroque music, late Romantic lieder, and 20th century American repertoire. She is a member of ACDA, AGMA, and ILMEA. She currently lives in DeKalb, Illinois. |
