John Costa’s music embraces a sense of lyricism while injecting drive, propulsion, and energy. To him, it is all about a feeling – a feeling of passion, emotion, and musical direction. He considers himself first and foremost, a melodic composer who builds a rhythmic narrative exhibiting grit, edginess, and momentum. His vocal music expresses the meaning and emotion behind the texts whose musical feelings clearly project and connect with a concert-going audience.
He is currently a Professor/Lecturer at The University of Utah and is published by Frank E. Warren Music Service of Boston and AVA Publishers in Lisbon, Portugal. He has chaired the Board of Directors for the Utah Arts Festival and is coordinating director of the Utah Arts Festival’s National Composer Commissioning Program. In addition to his composing, he has also written a text, A History of Rock ‘n’ Roll that is published through Pearson Learning Solutions, now in its 12th Edition.
He was a winner of the Georges Enesco International Competition, North Carolina New Music Initiative Orchestral Composition Competition, the Music Now Contest at Indiana State University, the Washington and Lee University Wind Ensemble Composition Contest, and the TEMPO Ensemble’s national call for scores for their 2019/2020 concert season.
He was a recipient of two artist’s grants from the Utah Arts Council and has received commissions from the Prism Saxophone Quartet, the Phantom Arts Ensemble for New Music, the Utah Youth Symphony, the Nova Chamber Music Series, the Barlow Foundation, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, saxophonist João Pedro Silva, the Bros Saxophone Quartet, and the Utah Arts Festival for the Utah Symphony Orchestra. He participated in the American Composers Forum’s Orchestral Reading Project with the Plymouth Music Series Orchestra in Minneapolis. He was also a recipient of the Norton Stevens fellowship at the MacDowell Artist’s Colony.
He has been a Fellow at The Composers Conference at Wellesley College, The Festival at Sandpoint, The Tanglewood Music Center, and The Charles Ives Center for American Music. He was a recipient of the Charles E. Ives Scholarship given by The American Academy of Arts & Letters. His orchestral works have been performed by the Utah Symphony, the Utah Youth Symphony, The Memphis Symphony, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, and The Spoleto Festival by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. His chamber works have seen numerous performances throughout the US and in Europe.