Josef Kucera retired in 2016 after 33 years as the Chief Recording Engineer for the Department of Music at the University of California, San Diego. He has been involved in Recording Arts and New Music for more than 45 years and has engineered over 125 commercial CD, DVD and DVD-A projects for MODE, Aeolian Classics, aeon, New World Records, Neuma, Bridge, Naxos, Sony Classics, CRI, Lovely Music, Klavier, and 9 Winds as well as several boutique labels. Some of the ensembles included in these projects are the Arditti Quartet, JACK Quartet, The National Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the ICE ensemble, redfishbluefish, SONOR and the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus; Pulitzer Prize winners include Roger Reynolds, Charles Wuorinen, David Lang, Steve Reich, John Luther Adams and Bernard Rands; Other notable artists include Iannis Xenakis, John Cage, Christian Wolff, Irvine Arditti, Steve Schick, George Lewis, Bert Turetzky, Mark Dresser, Anthony Davis, Anthony Braxton, Wadada Leo Smith, Vinny Golia, Miller Puckett, the Convolution Brothers and Ravi Shankar among others. Mr. Kucera has recorded concerts in the U.S., Asia and Europe.
Mr. Kucera holds a B.A. in Music Theory/Composition from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His teachers included Thea Musgrave, Stanley Krebs, Emma Lou Diemer and Peter Racine Fricker. As a composer/sound designer his credits include 4 film sound tracks, a dance commission, sound design for the Globe Theatre in San Diego and 3 seasons as the Resident Sound Designer for the Ensemble Theatre Project in Santa Barbara. His formal musical training has also included 15 years on piano and 8 years on mallets. From 1974 to 1978 he performed as a percussionist with the Santa Barbara Symphony and played as a keyboardist in numerous jazz ensembles and rock groups. In 1981, he attended Santa Barbara City College and completed a Certified Electronics Technician program.
From 1977 to 1984 Mr. Kucera worked for the University of California at Santa Barbara as the Arts Library's Recording Engineer and Archivist for the Archive of Recorded Vocal Music.
From September, 1995 to June, 1998 Mr. Kucera was on the Faculty of Mira Costa Community College in the Music Technology Department teaching recording studio technique and audio engineering. In September, 2007 he joined the Faculty of San Diego City College where his still teaches. His courses cover the AVID Pro Tools Music Production Certification curriculum and a course in recording studio technique and audio engineering. I 2019-2021 Mr. Kucera was on the Faculty at San Diego State University teaching courses in Live Sound and Recording Techniques.
Mr. Kucera is also currently an active freelance recording engineer.
Mr. Kucera is a 44 year member of the Audio Engineering Society and a 23 year member of the Recording Academy. He has been an AVID Certified Instructor for 15 years.