Rate My Professor Emily Koh

Emily Koh is Associate Professor of Composition and Area Chair of Composition and Theory at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, University of Georgia. She earned a Ph.D. in Music Composition and Theory from Brandeis University, Master of Music degrees in Music Composition and Music Theory Pedagogy from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor of Music with honors in Composition from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore. Her composition teachers include Yu-Hui Chang, David Rakowski, Eric Chasalow, Kevin Puts, and Ho Chee Kong. Prior to her appointment at UGA, Dr. Koh taught at Brandeis University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Longy School of Music of Bard College, and Walnut Hill School for the Arts. She also serves as faculty at the International Composition Institute of Thailand and has taught at the Alba Music Festival Composition Program in Italy, Asia-Pacific Saxophone Academy in Thailand, and Etchings Festival in the USA.

Dr. Koh is a Singaporean composer-bassist whose music reimagines everyday human experiences through sonic explorations of tiny oft-forgotten details and binary states such as extremities, boundaries, activity, and stagnation. Her acoustic and electronic works feature intricate layers described as other-worldly with raw, intense grit. Commissions include those from the National Endowment for the Arts, Opera America, New Music USA, Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, American Composers Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Composers Conference, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, and Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble. Her music has been performed internationally by ensembles including Talea Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, New York New Music Ensemble, Signal Ensemble, Avanti!, Israel Contemporary Players, and Sentieri Selvaggi. Publications appear with Babel Scores and Poco Piu Publishing, with recordings on Innova, XAS, New Focus, and Ravello labels. Awards include the Copland House Residency Award, Young Artist Award from Singapore's National Arts Council, Yoshiro Irino Memorial Prize from the Asian Composers League, ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, Prix D’Ete from Peabody, and Macagnoni Prize for Innovative Research from the University of Georgia. She serves as National Treasurer of the Society of Composers Inc. and on advisory boards for Composers Conference, Indictus Project, Atlanta Contemporary Music Collective, and Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble. As a performer, she plays double bass and electric bass in Subaerial Collective, Atlanta Improvisers Orchestra, Bent Frequency, neoPhonia, DeKalb Symphony Orchestra, and others.