Victoria Kirsch is a Southern California-based collaborative pianist and vocal coach known for creating and performing innovative programs, including staged art song/poetry programs and concerts based on museum exhibitions (USC Fisher Museum of Art for Visions and Voices, Getty Center, Huntington Library and Gardens, RAFFMA at CSU San Bernardino, Long Beach Museum of Art, Heath Gallery of Palm Springs, Michael H. Lord Gallery, Annenberg Beach House, Brand Library).
In 2008 Victoria received a Chairman’s Grant from then-NEA Chair Dana Gioia to support the creation of the musical-theatrical piece, Emily Dickinson: This, and My Heart, which premiered at Grand Performances in downtown Los Angeles in September 2009 and has since been performed numerous times, most recently in October 2023 for the Verdi Chorus in Santa Monica.
From 1999 to 2012 Victoria served as the onstage pianist for a wide variety of theatrical programs with soprano Julia Migenes (Carmen in the award-winning opera film directed by Francesco Rosi), touring the world for many years with the celebrated singing actress. Since Fall 2015 Victoria has been a faculty vocal and opera coach at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music, where she is now a Continuing Lecturer. In addition to serving as the pianist for UCLA HASOM’s Vocal Vision Awards Competition (2016, 2017, 2019, 2024), she has coached and played for over 40 student vocal recitals since 2016. Other UCLA concerts have included View from a Hilltop: Mark Carlson at 65 (Mark Carlson Farewell Concert); Songfest: A Bernstein Celebration; His Life in Cabaret: A Tribute to Hermann Leopoldi; and a Michelle DeYoung-curated student recital evening.
Beginning in Fall 2024, in addition to her UCLA appointment, Victoria returns to the USC Thornton School as a Lecturer in the Keyboard Studies Department, having previously served as a faculty coach in the Vocal Arts and Opera Department (1995-1999). Prior to her academic appointments, Victoria worked with national and regional opera companies, including LA Opera and Long Beach Opera, and she served as an official pianist for the Operalia Competition (2000 and 2004) and the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions (1999-2003), among numerous other competitions and auditions.
Victoria was the music director of OperaArts, a Coachella Valley-based performance organization (2010-2019); a faculty member of the Los Angeles-based Angels Vocal Art summer program (2016-2018); a teaching artist for LA Opera’s Community Programs Department (1998 ff); and she served on the faculties of USC’s Thornton School of Music (1995-1999) and SongFest (2009-2010, 2013-2014). She was associated with the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara from 1984 to 1992, playing in the studio of renowned baritone and master teacher Martial Singher and serving as a member of the vocal faculty.
Victoria received her Masters in Music (Collaborative Piano) from UC Santa Barbara (1987), and her Bachelor of Arts in Music (Piano) from UC Santa Cruz (1975). Victoria is married to Michael Alexander, founding executive and artistic director of Grand Performances in downtown Los Angeles, and currently Caltech’s Campus Arts and Culture Liaison.
