About
The music of composer and pianist John Kuntz (b. 1996) ventures within timbral extremes, pursuing dissonant, emotive and expressive depths, theatrical magnetism, as well as electronic soundscapes. He is currently a freelance composer in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
His works have been performed at Western University, Berklee College of Music, the University of Memphis, the Mississippi Valley Orchestra, and Luther College. He was a showcase composer as part of Classical Minnesota Public Radio’s Minnesota Varsity competition, where his chamber work As the Day Unfolds was premiered and broadcasted live. His piece Two Minds was commissioned as part of Luther College’s Reformation Cantata, a commemorative concert of the Lutheran Church’s 500th anniversary. In 2019, Kuntz was awarded a research grant to complete an original, one-act musical Matchgirl which was premiered by Luther College’s SPIN Theatre Company. More recently, Kuntz was commissioned to write Virago, Sonder, and Styx, multiple song cycles based on original poetry by librettist and soprano Natalie Nelson, and completed a year long composer-in-residence program with the Mississippi Valley Orchestra, which culminated with the premiere of Remembering in spring, 2023.
While Kuntz is mainly known as a composer, he is an experienced pianist, accompanist, and chorister. Kuntz has performed major solo works by Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Haydn, Liszt, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, and more. He has performed at Luther College, University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, Idlewild Presbyterian Church, and Presbyterian Church of the Apostles. In addition, Kuntz has had vast choral experience, having sung in Luther College Norsemen and Cathedral choir, as bass section leader and accompanist for Collegiate Chorale, and as a hired section leader for Idlewild Choir in Memphis, Tennessee.
Kuntz is interested in music’s ability to heal and make an impact. He has volunteered and interned in music therapy at Fairview Hospice in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Wellington Place in Decorah, Iowa. Kuntz finds that the most rewarding aspect of being a musician is through seeing one renewed through either his composition or performance.
Kuntz worked as a graduate assistant for the University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, where he earned his Master’s in Music Composition, studying music composition with Dr. Kamran Ince and Electronic music with Dr. Scott Hines. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music from Luther College, studying composition with Dr. Brooke Joyce and piano with John F. Strauss.
When not writing or performing music, Kuntz is usually trying to develop his next ultimate soup recipe or reading up on current politics. He enjoys hikes, bike rides, and runs, and has run three half-marathons. He also serves as a producer at American Public Media, mainly focusing on Pipedreams with Michael Barone.