Profile
Recognized for intense, commanding performances, delivered with dazzling virtuosity and technical assurance, violinist Jennifer Koh is a forward-thinking artist dedicated to exploring a broad and eclectic repertoire, while promoting equity and inclusivity in classical music. She has expanded the contemporary violin repertoire through a wide range of commissioning projects and has premiered more than 100 works written especially for her.
Ms. Koh performs a broad range of repertoire that reflects the breadth of her musical interests from traditional to contemporary. Her orchestral appearances have included performances with the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, the BBC Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, KBS and NHK Orchestras. She has performed in venues and festivals including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Hollywood Bowl, the Aspen, Avanti! and Tanglewood festivals, and the BBC PROMS. She has performed with conductors including John Adams, Marin Alsop, Gustavo Dudamel, Christoph Eschenbach, Edo de Waart, Lorin Maazel, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Ms. Koh played the role of Einstein in the revival of Philip Glass and Robert Wilson’s Einstein on the Beach from 2012 to 2014; and performed with St Vincent and S. Epatha Merkerson at the 2018 Kennedy Center Honors in a tribute to Mr. Glass. A highlight for her was a performance for former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama and former First Lady of South Korea Kim Yoon-ok in 2011. She has released 20 solo albums which have been selected as best albums by publications such as The Chicago Tribune and The New York Times, and she has received a GRAMMY nomination.
In addition to her performing and recording life, she has been a keynote speaker for the Institute of Musical and Royal College of Music’s conference New Yellow Peril in Western Classical Music for Research in 2020 and The League of American Orchestras Annual Conference in 2018.
Her teaching experience includes composition workshops and lectures at Brown University, Cornell University, The Curtis Institute of Music, Duke University, and the LA Philharmonic Composer Fellowship Program. She has been a guest speaker at Harvard University, The Watermill Center and Princeton University. She has given violin and chamber music masterclasses at the Bowdoin Music Festival, Northwestern University, San Francisco Conservatory, Royal Conservatory of Music, and the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, amongst others.
Ms. Koh is the Founder and Artistic Director of ARCO Collaborative, an artist-driven nonprofit that advocates for inclusivity in classical music. ARCO Collaborative commissions, develops, and produces new musical works that highlight artists of color and women composers in collaborations that bring forth stories previously unheard in western art forms.
Ms. Koh is a Distinguished Mentors Council member of Composers Now and a member of the Board of Directors of the League of American Orchestras. She has been honored with the “Virtuoso Award” by Concert Artists Guild in 2020, a “Force of Nature” by the American Composers Orchestra in 2019, and “Instrumentalist of the Year” by Musical America.
Born in Chicago of Korean parents, Ms. Koh made her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age 11. Ms. Koh was a top prize winner at Moscow’s International Tchaikovsky Competition, winner of the Concert Artists Guild Competition, and a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from Oberlin College and studied at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she worked extensively with Jaime Laredo and Felix Galimir.