“A Tenor is born”, raved La Libre after Ian’s performance in Mozart’s Idomeneo at Opéra Royal de Wallonia. “He is not only a beast on stage but a formidable voice with a rich, substantial top, generous middle and sonorous bottom voice.”

Chicago native Ian Koziara was a three-year member of The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, having worked with such notable conductors as Yannick Nezet-Séguin, Bertrand de Billy, and Marco Armiliato. He debuted at the Metropolitan Opera as Enrique in Thomas Adès’ The Exterminating Angel, with subsequent appearances in Parsifal, Nico Muhly’s Marnie, The Magic Flute, and La Fanciulla del West. Ian’s recent appearance as Fritz in Franz Schreker’s Der Ferne Klang (Oper Frankfurt) was hailed by the Wiesbadener Tagblatt as “so strong as Fritz that one is amazed at how naturally a sense of beauty and despair can go hand in hand”. His performance in the title role of Mozart’s Idomeneo yielded accolades from the Washington Post, praising his “striking beauty of tone… His King was royal and haunted and evoked nothing so much as Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes”.

Ian is equally at home on the concert stage as in opera.  In Honegger’s Le Roi David with New York’s Voices of Ascension and F. Murray Abraham, Ian was described as “a vigorous, compelling David… using his powerful voice to convey the full range of David’s very human strengths and weaknesses.” His repertoire in non-opera works includes The Dream of Gerontius, and Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, among many others.

Highlights from the upcoming 2024-2025 season include a role debut in the title role of Wagner’s Parsifal with Oper Frankfurt, performances at Walt Disney Hall and on tour with Le Concert D’astree, and several orchestral debuts yet to be announced.

In his capacity as a member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Ian performed many excerpts and acts of important roles from such works as Wagner’s Lohengrin, Berlioz’s Les Troyens, and Verdi’s Stiffelio. Ian is a graduate of Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, and Rice University in Houston, Texas.