In 2003, John Michael Koch, baritone, was granted tenure in the College of Fine Arts at Illinois State University's School of Music in Normal, Illinois, where he has been nominated three times to Who's Who Among America's Teachers. He has performed over 35 operatic and 40 oratorio roles throughout the world. He came to international prominence as the 1989 laureate of the Montreal International Music Competition for Singers, where he received outstanding reviews for his operatic and art song interpretations. He has since performed leading roles with the Montreal Opera, Florentine Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Edmonton Opera, New Orleans Opera, Madison Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, Dayton Opera, Eugene Opera, Opera Omaha, Gold Coast Opera, and San Francisco Opera's Western Opera Theatre 1989 -1990 National Tour. Numerous solo appearances include the Milwaukee Symphony, Peoria Symphony, Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Montreal Philharmonic, Asheville Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and the Dayton Philharmonic. His November 1996 performance of Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Florentine Opera was broadcast in October 1997 on Wisconsin Public Television. In 2002, he recorded Daron Hagen's The Heart of the Stranger for Albany Records with the ISU Wind Symphony. In 1993 he recorded the title role in a world premiere of Schubert's opera Der Graf von Gleichen with the Cincinnati Philharmonic, released on CD by Centaur Records in 1996. In 2001, he released two world premiere recordings of Van de Vate's operas In the Shadow of the Glen and The Death of the Hired Man. Mr. Koch was a National Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, as well as the winner of the 1991 Opera Columbus Competition, the 1991 Meistersinger Competition in Graz, Austria, and the 1987 National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artist Auditions. He holds a Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, where he studied voice with Andrew White and opera with basso buffo Italo Tajo. Upcoming in 2005-2006 is the premiere of a commissioned Hagen work based on the famous Civil War letter of Major Sullivan Ballou to his wife Sarah (entitled: The Banner of my Purpose: A Concert Scena for Baritone and Military Band). Performances of the work will be held at Illinois State University, the University of Michigan, and Pacific Lutheran University, with a recording to follow.

Mr. Koch is noted for his interpretation of Orff's Carmina burana that he recently sang at Chicago's Orchestra Hall with the Chicago Sinfonietta. Other recent performances of the Orff include the Caracas Contemporary Ballet (Venezuela), Karmi'el Dance Festival in Israel (Tel Aviv Opera and Jerusalem), Chautauqua Institution, Cincinnati Ballet, Princeton University Symphony and Glee Clubs, the Southwest Michigan and Green Bay Symphony Orchestras, the Montreal Philharmonic, and the Canadian Ballet. Mr. Koch was a guest clinician and performer at the Colorado Music Festival in Pueblo, Colorado from 1998 to 2000. In November and December 2001 he sang the bass solos in Haydn's Creation with the Peoria Symphony, Haydn's The Seasons with the University of Missouri-Columbia Symphony and Choruses, and appeared as a guest artist with the South Bend Chamber Singers in their annual Christmas Concert. He recently sang in Verdi's Rigoletto and Puccini's La bohème with the Florentine Opera and reprised the Carmina burana with the Cincinnati Symphony and Ballet amd the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2003 he made his debut with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra under the baton of maestra Karen Deal and appeared with the ISO again in 2004 in Dvorak's Te Deum. In 2004, he also appeared with the Master Chorale of Tampa in Bach's St. John Passion and returned to Caracas for more Carminas, then made the Illinois premiere of René Clausen's Memorial with the Jacksonville Symphony. 2005-2006 brings more Carminas with the South Bend Chamber Singers and Fauré's Requiem with the Dayton Philharmonic. He resides in Bloomington, Illinois with his wife, soprano Tracy Marie Koch, his son Nicholas and his dogs Midnight and Will. He and his wife presented a recital with Dr. Jeffrey Peterson of Northwestern University at the Chicago Cultural Center in July 2005.

-Updated February 2006