Emily Koh
Emily Koh (b.1986) is a Singaporean composer+ based in Atlanta, Georgia whose music reimagines everyday experiences by sonically expounding tiny oft-forgotten details, and is characterized by inventive explorations of the intricacies of sound. Her work also explores binary states such as extremes x boundaries, distinguished x ignored, and activity x stagnation, through her unique Teochew and Peranakan Singaporean lens. An amateur multi-disciplinary artist herself, she enjoys collaborating with creatives of other specializations, especially when sound plays a central role in the project.
Described as “the future of composing” (The Straits Times, Singapore), Emily is the recipient of awards such as the Copland House Residency Award, Young Artist Award (National Arts Council, Singapore), Yoshiro Irino Memorial Prize (Asian Composers League), ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, Prix D’Ete (Peabody), PARMA Student Composer Competition, and the Virginia Macagnoni Prize for Innovative Research (University of Georgia). Her work is supported with commissions, grants and fellowships from the Opera America, MacDowell, the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, New Music USA, American Composers’ Orchestra, National Arts Council (Singapore), Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy, the Paul Abisheganaden Grant for Artistic Excellence (National University of Singapore), and others. Described as “beautifully eerie” (New York Times), and “subtley spicy” (Baltimore Sun), Emily’s music has been performed around the world and is published by Babel Scores (Europe) and Poco Piu Publishing (worldwide).
Emily is currently Assistant Professor of Music Composition at the University of Georgia, USA.