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[Feature] Jennifer Koh's Sounds of USSounds of US Festival with Jennifer Koh
"The most important part of life is what we do for others." — Jennifer Koh
We have arrived at an historic turning point as a nation. We have survived a bitter election and are looking towards our 250th birthday in 2026. It is the right time to ask ourselves the important questions: who are we, what do we stand for, what does the future hold, and for each of us, what is our role, our mission in society. Artists excel at interpreting our world and answering these questions for us. Jennifer Koh’s Sounds of US festival couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Sounds of Us” is an immersive new music festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Saturday, November 16, from 1-9 pm. It features over 40 world premiere commissions by the artist-driven nonprofit ARCO Collaborative in both ticketed concerts and free performances. Jennifer Koh, the creator and curator of the event and founder of ARCO Collaborative, was kind enough to chat with me about the festival.
By Nicole Lacroix, WETA, November 11, 2024
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5 Questions to Jennifer Koh and Weston Sprott (Sounds of US Festival)
By Forrest Howell, I Care If You Listen, November 11, 2024
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Sounds of US is a festival for everyone, and that’s just who’s playing
Sounds of US, a music festival at the Kennedy Center’s Reach campus, will premiere more than 40 pieces over the course of one day.
"Koh is hoping for a day of music that opens the ears of new listeners to new sounds as well as fresh perspectives on what American music can and should sound like. 'I feel like as an artist, I take risks all the time, I get criticized all the time,' Koh says. 'We all fail. We're all human. Hopefully, this festival will do well — and then I can do more things like this.'"
By Michael Andor Brodeur, The Washington Post, November 10, 2024
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Sounds of US celebrates America’s upcoming 250th anniversary with the daylong music fest at The Reach.
By Michael McCarthy, DC Magazine, November 2024
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Things to Do
Washingtonian, November 2024
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[Interview] Jennifer Koh seeks innovation and 'artistic risk' in revamping chamber music seriesOlivia Hampton's NPR Morning Edition segment interviewing Jenny is now available. They discuss her upcoming Sounds of US festival as well as her collaborations with Missy Mazzoli as an "illustration for her visions for the future of classical music".
By Olivia Hampton, NPR Morning Edition , October 15, 2024
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Koh's performance in Iyer's Trouble was reviewed in GramophoneThe review was included in Gramophone's Sounds of America, a section focusing on recent recordings from the US and Canada.
"[Trouble] benefits enormously from a finely balanced and nuanced interpretation by violinist Jennifer Koh, who manages to capture the range of emotions expressed throughout."
By Pwyll ap Siôn, Gramophone Magazine, September 2024 issue
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[Feature] 5 Minutes with Jennifer KohJennifer Koh's interview feature with Thomas May for Strings Magazine's September-October issue. The two discuss Koh's New American Concerto project, her involvement in Vijay Iyer's Trouble, and more.
By Thomas May, Strings Magazine, September/October 2024 issue
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[Feature] 5 Minutes with Jennifer KohJennifer Koh's interview feature with Thomas May for Strings Magazine's September-October issue. The two discuss Koh's New American Concerto project, her involvement in Vijay Iyer's Trouble, and more.
By Thomas May, Strings Magazine, September/October 2024 issue
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The New York Times' 5 Classical Music Albums You Can Listen to Right NowVijay Iyer: ‘Trouble’
Jennifer Koh, violin; Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Gil Rose, conductor (BMOP/sound)
"The largest work is the half-hour “Trouble,” for violin and orchestra, written for the brilliant Jennifer Koh. It can be heard as a meditation on the relationship of individual to collective: Unlike a traditional concerto, Koh’s nuanced and highly varied sound spinning into and away from a spacious orchestral texture."
By David Weininger, The New York Times , June 27, 2024
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Fantasies, Urgencies: An interview with Vijay IyerA video of Jennifer Koh performing Iyer's Trouble at the Ojai Music Festival in 2019 was included in an interview piece with Hugh Morris for VAN Magazine.
By Hugh Morris, VAN Magazine , June 27, 2024
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Violinist Jennifer Koh’s life lessonsThe US violinist on the importance of our decisions and promoting inclusivity
The Strad, June 2024 Issue
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Jennifer Koh and Missy Mazzoli's Tiny Desk Concert is now streaming!"Hearing this set, in all its rugged delight, feels like we're eavesdropping on something personal -- a fruitful, collaborative friendship between composer and performer that has yielded amazing music."
By Tom Huizenga, NPR , March 13, 2024
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Washington Post featuring Jenny Koh as she showcased her first performance as artistic director of the Fortas Chamber Music Series"Koh and Laredo seemed to tell a story about their former dynamic as student/teacher at Curtis: Koh’s lines were bright, lively and piquant; Laredo’s rustic and leathery. Trading lines and smiles, they played the hell out of it."
By Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post , December 4, 2023
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[Feature] With aqua hair and visceral new solos, prodigious violinist Jennifer Koh returns home to ChicagoThe Grammy winner will perform classical compositions that she boldly commissioned during the COVID-19 lockdown.
By Hannah Edgar, WBEZ, October 19, 2023
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In Mazzoli's Violin Concerto, Procession with Adelaide Symphony Orchestra5 Stars
"Mazzoli’s violin concerto is dramatic and intense, and while it illuminates historical approaches to healing, I was mostly absorbed by the compelling performance — the textures and the interplay between violin and orchestra, and Jennifer Koh’s accomplished interpretation, which draws the audience into a writhing psychological space. The Adelaide Festival and the ASO are to be thanked for bringing Mazzoli’s concerto and Koh, its wonderful exponent, to Adelaide."
By Chris Reid, Limelight Magazine, March 20, 2023
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Jennifer Koh Named Artistic Director of Fortas Chamber Music ConcertsThe Kennedy Center announced its 2023-24 season including programs for the Fortas Chamber Concerts series. As the series' new Artistic Director, Jennifer will perform concerts including "Two x Four" with Jaime Laredo and the Juilliard Orchestra on Dec 1 and a duo performance with Missy Mazzoli on Mar 1.
By Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post , March 9, 2023
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[Feature] Jennifer Koh: Small Strings from the Big Apple"A shared passion for championing the work of emerging female and non-binary composers is just one of the bonds that links New York violinist Jennifer Koh with Missy Mazzoli, whose new concerto she will perform with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra as part of this year’s Festival."
By Patrick McDonald, Adelaide Festival, March 2023
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[Feature] Changing Tune - Jennifer Koh on racism and investing in the music of tomorrow"American violinist Jennifer Koh has dedicated herself to expanding the contemporary violin repertoire and making classical music more inclusive. She tells Jessie Tuwhy she commissions so many new works, and discusses her musical relationship with Missy Mazzoli, whose violin concerto Procession, she will perform at the Adelaide Festival."
By Jessie Tu, Limelight Magazine, February 20, 2023
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[Review] Everything Rises | Musicians of Color Reclaim Control in a White Space"Musically and narratively, “Everything Rises” underlines the fact that Koh and Tines, as well as their creative partners, are constantly code switching, depending on where they are and whom they are with. Ueno imaginatively expresses those frequent alternations between ways of being, drawing texts from their experiences and sampling audio recordings of interviews with the matriarchs of their respective families: Koh’s mother, Gertrude Soonja Lee Koh, who fled the Korean War to the U.S., and Tines’s grandmother, Alma Lee Gibbs Tines, a descendant of enslaved people."
By Anastasia Tsioulcas, The New York Time, October 13, 2022
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European premiere of Mazzoli's Violin Concerto, ProcessionBBC Proms review — Missy Mazzoli’s spells make the orchestra dance
"Mazzoli’s concerto, played by the violinist Jennifer Koh with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Santtu-Matias Rouvali, is in five parts, casting the soloist “as a soothsayer, sorcerer, healer and pied piper-type character, leading the orchestra through five interconnected healing spells”. Much of this was vividly apparent. The score made striking, magical contrasts between spectral highest notes and lowest depth-charges, with surging portamenti between the two extremes."
By Alastair Macaulay, Financial Times, August 17, 2022
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Everything Rises42 New Classical Music Performances to Hear This Fall
"BAM, October 12–15
Performing in public involves a strange mix of the confessional and the reticent; classical musicians may bare their souls, but they tend to stay silent about who they are. Now, bass-baritone Davóne Tines and violinist Jennifer Koh blend performance, visual projection, and autobiography in a new stage work composed by Ken Ueno and directed by Alexander Gedeon."
By Justin Davidson, Vulture, August 30, 2022
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"“Everything Rises,” a personal reflection on BIPOC experiences, created with the violinist Jennifer Koh, at BAM’s Next Wave Festival"
By Oussama Zahr, The New Yorker, August 5, 2022
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Violinist Jennifer Koh wins inaugural Eroica Award for Outstanding Service to Music"Presented by the MOLA: An Association of Music Performance Librarians, the award recognises Koh’s advocacy work and commitment to artistic excellence"
The Strad, June 6, 2022
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Everything RisesJennifer Koh and Davóne Tines Soar in Everything Rises
“Both Koh and Tines share the experience of being artists of color in a white-dominated and often white-dictated Eurocentric classical domain, who are also actively engaged in the line of contemporary music-molding. In the early song “A Story of the Moth,” Tines openly addresses the stresses of working in a whitened artistic world: “I was the moth … lured by your flame / I hated myself for needing you / dear white people / money, access, and fame.”Of course, the Santa Barbara audience was largely white, triggering a certain guilt by association, but the ultimate goal of the piece is to raise awareness and unearth buried, repressed truths."
By Josef Woodard, San Francisco Classical Voice, April 17, 2022
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Everything Rises For Jennifer Koh And Davone Tines
“Everything Rises is a work of such originality and, at the same time, a so deeply personal exploration of identity by both Koh and Tines that it is challenging to describe."
By Tom Teicholz, Forbes, April 15, 2022
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Two Musicians of Color Are Creating Their Own Space
“Everything Rises,” by the violinist Jennifer Koh and the singer Davóne Tines, mines their experiences in the white-dominated classical music field.
By Joshua Barone, The New York Time, April 9, 2022
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Sunday Best: Award-winning violinist Jennifer Koh shimmers at the Grammys"Korean-American violinist Jennifer Koh has won the Best Instrumental Solo Award at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards for her recording “Alone Together” on Sunday (US time)."
By Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times, April 10, 2022
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Korean-American violinist Jennifer Koh’s pandemic-defying project wins her Grammy"Korean-American violinist Jennifer Koh has won the Best Instrumental Solo Award at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards for her recording “Alone Together” on Sunday (US time)."
By Park Ga-young, The Korea Herald, April 5, 2022
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World Premiere Missy Mazzoli's Violin Concerto with National Symphony OrchestraGemma New brings out a softer side of the NSO A program of Vaughan Williams and Sibelius also featured violinist Jennifer Koh performing a world premiere piece by Missy Mazzoli
"Koh didn’t ride atop the orchestra so much as engage in a prolonged tug-of-war with it — her solos tensing like a tendon within the body of the music. She attacked short solos as if she were sawing through a pipe; elsewhere she strung silvery threads through a dense fabric of dark strings and darting flutes. Her slow-burning centerpiece cadenza was a searing highlight of the evening."
By Michael Andor Brodeur, The Washington Post, February 4, 2022
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Review: Missy Mazzoli heals broken bones, hearts with new violin concerto; Violinist Jennifer Koh led the musical world premiere with the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Gemma New
"Both Hong and Koh belong to the Korean diaspora, and their projects, although conducted in disparate media, share the intention of giving voice to experiences that have too often been silenced in American culture."
By Olivia Hampton, DC Metro Theater Arts, February 5, 2022
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Violinist Jennifer Koh to receive honorary doctorate from Cleveland Institute of Music"The degree recognises Koh’s excellence as a performer, her work to grow contemporary violin repertoire and her commitment to diversity in classical music."
The Strad, February 5, 2022
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Gil Shaham, Jennifer Koh, Augustin Hadelich and Curtis Stewart Nominated for 2022 GrammysCongratulations to violinists Gil Shaham, Jennifer Koh, Augustin Hadelich and Curtis Stewart, as well as all the nominees announced Tuesday for the Recording Academy's 64nd Grammy Awards, which will will be presented Jan. 31.
By Laurie Niles, violinist.com, November 23, 2021
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[Review] Jennifer's Pivot Festival performance with Missy Mazzoli in San Francisco"Saturday’s joint recital by Koh and Mazzoli played like a tour through an artist’s journal during adversity — a war, a plague, a time of political upheaval. Many of these short pieces grew out of commissioning projects that doubled as coping mechanisms, and you could hear the stresses etched into their surfaces.
I was most deeply enchanted by the opening selection, “Dissolve, O My Heart” — a piece for unaccompanied violin that keeps trying out new and slightly different harmonies before returning to a single bass note — and by the fierce outbursts and motoric rhythms of “Tooth and Nail.” But all the pieces gloried, even in necessarily compact form, in Mazzoli’s slightly offbeat harmonic language and her gift for inventive instrumental textures."
By Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, October 24, 2021
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"Mazzoli’s compositions may have been short, but they imposed prodigious technical demands. Koh rose impressively to every challenge that Mazzoli had set for her...
It would probably be fair to say that a program of nine unfamiliar short pieces (followed by an encore) provided the attentive listener with a path along which acquaintance would begin to form. Koh’s mastery of Mazzoli’s technical demands meant that there was always a point of focus. Getting to the music behind the technique, however, required gradual assimilation. In my case I felt that, by the end of the program, I was beginning to appreciate rhetorical elements in Mazzoli’s instrumental music that had been more explicit in my encounter with her opera."
By Stephen Smoliar, The Rehearsal Studio, October 24, 2021
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[Feature] Isolated By Pandemic, Violinist Jennifer Koh Nurtured A New Community Online"For her part, Koh says working on Alone Together made her feel less... well, alone. Through the process, she notes, she spent time virtually with composers she might not have met otherwise. "And I felt so lucky during that time that I had this opportunity to meet these 20 wonderful human beings, and wonderful artists, and wonderful composers.""
By Jeff Lunden, NPR Morning Edition, August 30, 2021
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[CD Review] Jennifer Koh: Alone Together (Cedille Records)Here is the album based on violinist Jennifer Koh's online performance series, "Alone Together," created in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the financial hardship it placed on so many artists and musicians.
By Laurie Niles, violinist.com, August 26, 2021
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[Interview] Activist And Violinist Performs At GBH"There’s a saying that it takes three generations to make an artist — the first generation pulls themselves out of poverty, the second educates themselves and only then are you able to have a generation that can go into the arts. I have so much respect for my mother because she did in one generation what usually takes two generations. She pulled herself out of poverty and she educated herself, so that I can be where I am."
By Daphne Northrop, GBH, August 2, 2021
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[Review] Celebrating Bach and Performing Live Again"It takes great verve and stamina to carry off such a demanding and intense work. Ms. Koh’s playing had a masterful, assured technique and was authoritative and poised in its interpretation. I also thought her performance had a fine proportion of an authentic Baroque style, filtered through a 21st-century lens."
"For me, as probably for others in the audience, this was the first large in-person event I had attended since the pandemic began, and I think these conversational moments among Ms. Koh, Mr. Alda, and the audience added a measure of warmth and community, which was particularly welcome after so much isolation in the last year and a half."
By Thomas Bohlert, The East Hampton Star, August 12, 2021
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[Interview] Ethnicity doesn't determine musical talent"What I do believe is that as artists, we are always imagining a different world. So I think coming out of this pandemic, we have to rely on artists to imagine the next world, a better world."
By Yao Minji, Li Jinyu, Shine (SHANGHAI DAILY), July 30, 2021
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[Feature] A Violinist on How to Empower Asian Musicians"A beneficiary of changes to American immigration policies that had placed quotas on nonwhite immigrants, I am the daughter of Korean War refugees. During her childhood, my mother witnessed horrific violence and experienced overwhelming fear and hunger. Although my family’s history is a common one for Korean Americans, it is a part of Asian American history largely ignored in this country. But perhaps even less known is what it is like to be an Asian American woman in classical music."
"I have witnessed throughout my career that those of us who are ethnically Asian but were born, raised or trained in America and Europe, are burdened with the belief that musicians of Asian descent are diligent, hard-working and technically perfect — but cannot understand the true essence of music, have no soul and ultimately cannot be true artists. In the beginning of my career, I was told by an influential conductor — who had never heard me play — that I could never be a true artist because he did not understand Chinese music and therefore Chinese people could never understand classical music."
By Jennifer Koh, The New York Times, July 21, 2021
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[Feature] 'Alone Together': Hear About The Project Pairing Together Young And Experienced Composers"I remember I met Angelica Negron for the first time — on Zoom — learning her piece, and she was telling me how, it was so horrific, she was just watching Instagram videos of these two dogs who play with balloons. And so her piece is called "Cooper and Emma," and it's based on these two dogs who play with balloons on Instagram. So I think we can kind of see how everybody processed that period. And it's helpful, because I think it was — I think, now, looking back, we realize that there are so many systemic inequities, and I think because most of the composers who were commissioned were either people of color, non-binary or non-gender conforming and women, it was interesting meeting them because I could literally see the systemic inequities when we were speaking and learning about what they were going through at that time."
By Arun Rath, GBH: All Things Considered, July 9, 2021
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[Feature] Strings Magazine No. 301, July/August 2021 issue"Jennifer Koh's 'Along Together' project captured the pandemic lockdown experience while amplifying underrepresented musical voices"
By Inge Kjemtrup, Strings magazine, No. 301, July/August 2021 issue
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[Feature] ‘I’m going to create my own doors’: In Chicago, Asian women arts heads lead by example"I can’t help but think of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. When people asked her how many female justices are enough on the Supreme Court, she said all of them — because for centuries, it’s only been men. So, when people talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion, I don’t think people are really talking about equity and inclusion at all."
By Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, June 24, 2021
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[Feature] Masterclass: Tchaikovsky Souvenir d’un lieu cher"Violinist Jennifer Koh explores how imagination and a flexible technique can help to bring out varied colours and a feeling of dance in these three short works"
The Strad, June 2021 Issue
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[Podcast] Episode 8 - An Honest Look: Jennifer Koh"The violinist Jennifer Koh is one of today’s most fearless soloists. In this episode of An Honest Look, she discusses her commitment to keeping classical music vibrant through new commissions, especially by female composers and composers of color; her project “Alone Together,” launched just after the pandemic hit; and how small decisions can change the course of history."
InsideOut, May 12, 2021
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[New Music Film] “Strange Fruit”"To some extent Ueno’s arrangement appeals to those already familiar with Holiday’s recording. However, those lacking that familiarity will still “get the message” of the parallel between past treatment of the Black community and the current acts of violence against Asian Americans. As one with that familiarity, I have to note that I was impressed with how Tines’ delivery of Ueno’s arrangement begins with a subtle “insinuation” of Meeropol’s music, with the words becoming clearer as, more and more, they underscore the impact of the visual content."
By Stephen Smoliar, The Rehearsal Studio, April 25, 2021
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[Feature] Repetitive Mystique: Appreciating the String Music of Philip Glass"Violinist Jennifer Koh remembers portraying the title character in the 2012 revival of Einstein on the Beach. “I was in pain all the time,” she recalls, with a laugh. “I think you just have to invest in it and let yourself go with it.” At some five hours in length, the opera requires the violinist to sit, motionless, on the stage apron for extended stretches before erupting into one of the five, whirlwind “Knee Plays.” “You can’t move at all and then suddenly you play really fast for an hour,” she says. “It’s not like you’re walking on for a normal recital or concerto where you are going to warm up.”"
By Brian Wise, Strings Magazine, May-June 2021 issue
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[Feature] Violinist Jennifer Koh portrays the pandemic through performance"Violinist Jennifer Koh remembers portraying the title character in the 2012 revival of Einstein on the Beach. “I was in pain all the time,” she recalls, with a laugh. “I think you just have to invest in it and let yourself go with it.” At some five hours in length, the opera requires the violinist to sit, motionless, on the stage apron for extended stretches before erupting into one of the five, whirlwind “Knee Plays.” “You can’t move at all and then suddenly you play really fast for an hour,” she says. “It’s not like you’re walking on for a normal recital or concerto where you are going to warm up.”"
By Sara Jung, The Johns Hopkins News-Letter, April 22, 2021
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In Huang Ruo's "A DUST IN TIME" For Solo Violin"This solo-violin version of 'A DUST IN TIME' is created as part of the Works & Process Artist (WPA) Virtual Commissions, which financially support artists and nurture their creative process during these challenging times. I invited violinist Jennifer Koh to be part of this meaningful project, to give the world premiere in NYC virtually as well as in-person through Works & Process at the Guggenheim museum."
The Violin Channel, April 13, 2021
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[Interview] Violinist Jennifer Koh, On Bach, Virtual Concerts, Surviving COVID"Before the pandemic took hold, she was concertizing around the globe, in constant demand since her debut as a musical prodigy, and widely considered to be one of the most brilliant artists of her generation. But when the pandemic began, bookings vanished. A New York Times profile published the day after Christmas referred to the “Cultural Depression” that Jennifer and legions of other performers were experiencing, as unemployment among performing artists outpaced the rest of the workforce, including restaurant and hospitality workers."
By Tom Hall, WYPR, April 9, 2021
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[Feature] Jennifer's Alone Together project"On a smaller scale, though no less serious, is the remarkable initiative undertaken by virtuoso violinist Jennifer Koh. Best known as a soloist and chamber musician in constant demand, Ms. Koh, in 2014, founded the ARCO Collaborative. To cite its aims, it “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.”"
By George Gelles, NYCityWoman, April 6, 2021
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[CD Review] Jennifer Koh: Bach & Beyond, Part 3 (Cedille Records)The best classical recordings of 2020: CSO, Kevin Cole and James Lentini
Jennifer Koh: “Bach & Beyond, Part 3” (Cedille Records)
Violinist Koh concludes her epic traversal of solo violin repertoire with music of J.S. Bach, Luciano Berio and John Harbison. The point in this two-CD set, and in the series’ previously released Parts 1 and 2, is to show the enduring vitality of a tradition that dates back to the baroque but can speak urgently via contemporary composers. Koh makes this case through performances bristling with intellectual rigor, tonal depth and technical elan. In all, a monumental achievement.
By Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune, December 8, 2020
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Best Classical Music of 20204. Jennifer Koh
A flood of free streams immediately started, mostly from determined musicians playing from their homes. One ambitious and heartening standout was the violinist Jennifer Koh’s “Alone Together” project, for which she played 40 new solo works, half donated, half commissioned, broadcasting them over Instagram from her apartment in Manhattan.
By Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, December 2, 2020
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World Premiere Tyshawn Sorey's For Marcos Balter for Violin and Orchestra with Detroit Symphony...In early November, the violinist Jennifer Koh came to Detroit to play in the world première of Tyshawn Sorey’s “For Marcos Balter,” which the composer has described as a “non-certo”—a concerto shorn of theatrical conflict and virtuoso features. Sorey, a remarkable and unclassifiable figure in contemporary American music, first established himself as an avant-garde-leaning jazz drummer and has more recently built up a compelling portfolio of works for classical ensembles. He has the cardinal virtue of being unpredictable: each new piece of his feels like a departure into fresh terrain....
By Alex Ross, The New Yorker, November 30, 2020
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Not to be missed live-streamed concertsHighlights include The Cliburn, Seattle Symphony, conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, pianist Vicky Chow and violinist Jennifer Koh
Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Nov 6, 7.30pm; dso.org; available through November. During a concert of his works last year at the Miller Theatre in New York, composer and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey, who has little patience with distinctions between genres and styles, described his artistic goal as working toward a model of "music that perpetuates itself". A new Sorey piece for violin and orchestra, For Marcos Balter, receives its premiere during a 45-minute livestream from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, featuring brilliant violinist Jennifer Koh and conductor Xian Zhang. Florence Price's Five Folksongs in Counterpoint, arrangements of spirituals for string quartet, opens the programme.
Business Times, November 4, 2020
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A fall haul of high-quality classical music streams'If you haven’t already scrolled into installments of her “Alone Together” series of commissions posted through the pandemic, now is a perfect time to point an ear and your browser to violinist Jennifer Koh, who kicks off her digital residency at the Library of Congress on Nov. 19 along with pianist Thomas Sauer, performing a pair of new commissions from the Library’s McKim Fund — Julia Wolfe’s “Mink Stole” and George Lewis’s “The Mangle of Practice” — as well as selections from “Alone Together.”
But you can also catch her a couple weeks prior on Nov. 6 as part of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s reliably strong series of digital concerts, performing Florence Price’s “Five Folksongs in Counterpoint”alongside the world premiere of multi-instrumentalist and composer Tyshawn Sorey’s “For Marcos Balter for Violin and Orchestra.” Visit jenniferkoh.com for links to all performances."
By Michael Andor Brodeur, The Washington Post, November 2, 2020
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MwM Presents: Opus 3, A Conversation with Nina Young & Jennifer Koh'A video series in which facilitator, Tamara Dworetz, initiates conversations with *maestros about their stories, values and ideas in the hopes of inspiring progress and forming connections across classical music mediums & careers."
By Tamara Dworetz, Martinis with Maestros, May 24, 2020
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Our Daily Breather: Jennifer Koh On Finding Carefree Joy"As a musician, I engage with the action of listening to others and the action of physicalizing music.
Live music is a communal experience for all of us (musicians and audience), a space where we create "togetherness" inside a physical space. Sound disappears within milliseconds of its creation — but it is the connectivity within and between these sounds that create music. This connectivity also creates relationships between all of us in the room, bringing us together in imagined spaces where the music resides in each of us...."
By Jennifer Koh, NPR, May 18, 2020
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Bach in My Heart, and My Heart in His HandsA consoling composer’s music reminds our critic of a surgeon who once helped him and is now on the front line of New York’s coronavirus crisis.
"...During Music Never Sleeps NYC, a wonderful recent 24-hour live-streamed event, Bach after Bach emerged from the instruments of the artists transmitting from their apartments.
Before playing the Chaconne from the Unaccompanied Violin Partita No. 2, Jennifer Koh spoke of the solace this music can offer in a troubled time..."
By James R. Oestreich, The New York Times, April 9, 2020
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Jennifer Koh's "Alone Together"Four premieres in ten minutes: Jennifer Koh launches “Alone Together” (Apr. 4)
"...Streamed live over Facebook and Instagram, and still available on-demand through YouTube, this was the first concert of “Alone Together,” Koh’s new commissioning project and performance series in support of composers during the COVID-19 crisis. New concerts take place on Saturdays at 7:00 pm Eastern Time.
Each premiere will be a “micro-work” for solo violin. Half of the composers, most of whom have salaried positions or other forms of institutional support, have agreed to donate their work. Each of those artists is also recommending a freelance composer to write a short piece on paid commission from the ARCO Collaborative, a nonprofit founded and directed by Koh that advocates for inclusivity in classical music...."
Jarrett Hoffman, Cleveland Classical, April 7, 2020
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American Composers Orchestra Announces New Solo Commissioning InitiativeIn response to the impacts of COVID-19 on composers and performers, American Composers Orchestra announces Connecting ACO Community, a new initiative to commission short works for solo instrument or voice.
Each composer will receive $500 to write the work, and each performer will receive $500 to perform the work, with the rights to stream for six months. With these seven premieres, ACO aims to support artists who need financial assistance; to create new work that will live beyond this crisis; and to provide virtual, interactive performances to ACO's supporters and the general public.
Premieres of the new works will take place each Sunday at 5pm EST... Connecting ACO Community Composer-Performer Teams and Schedule of Events:
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Sunday, May 17, 2020 at 5pm EST: Gity Razaz & Jennifer Koh, violin (buy tickets)
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BWW News Desk, Read the Article, April 7, 2020
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Jennifer Koh's "Alone Together"This week: live streamed concerts (April 6, 2020 – April 12, 2020)
ALONE TOGETHER | JENNIFER KOH
"Violinist Jennifer Koh’s Alone Together is an online commissioning project that brings composers together in support of the many freelancers among them. Twenty-one composers have each agreed to donate a new, 30-second micro-work for solo violin while also recommending a fellow composer to write their own 30-second solo violin work on paid commission from the artist-driven nonprofit ARCO Collaborative. Koh will premiere a selection of these donated and commissioned works each Saturday at 7:00 p.m Eastern Time . Saturday, April 11 at 7:00 PM Eastern Time."
Sam Reising, I Care If You Listen, April 6, 2020
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How one violinist is rebuilding her musical community — one minute at a time
"...“I thought, I could spend this period of time being scared, curled up in a ball in the corner of the apartment,” she says. “Or I could spend this time only thinking about my own survival. Or I could spend this time and try to help as many people as I can.”
So Koh got to work on Alone Together, an online performance series for which she hyper-compressed her usual process of discovering composers by asking 21 of them with some level of financial security (be it from salary or grants) to donate a new work between 30 seconds and one minute long, as well as to nominate 21 freelance composers for new commissions funded by Arco..."
Michael Andor Brodeur, The Washington Post, April 3, 2020
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‘Joy in the Grief’: Musicians Are Making Art in a Pandemic
"I feel I’ve gained wisdom from my parents about what it was like to be refugees. But I don’t have the wisdom for this. It feels like everything’s changed. I came up with this project, “Alone Together.” A lot of composer colleagues have salaried positions. Others are freelance, and vulnerable. I started calling colleagues with positions and asking them for help with our community, asking them to recommend freelance composers to write solo violin pieces. I guaranteed the money personally: $500 per 30 seconds of music, a respectable rate."
The New York Times, April 1, 2020
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World Premiere Courtney Bryan's Syzygy with Chicago SinfoniettaChicago Sinfonietta review: Violinist Koh unveils a seductive new concerto
"...The work opened with Koh playing a simple line that soon blossomed into a rhapsodic solo. Here the music ascended to the violin’s highest register, producing otherworldly effects. Before long, the solo violin engaged in beguiling interplay with the orchestra’s winds in some of this movement’s most engaging passages. By this point, listeners realized they were in the hands of a skilled composer of considerable imagination. ...Koh played the piece with obvious authority, reveling in its openly expressed emotion and dispatching technically complex passagework with apparent ease. Quite a triumph for composer, soloist and the Sinfonietta..."
Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune, March 10, 2020
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Celestial beings
Three artists' views of a dazzling planetary event
The Strad, March 2020 Issue
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‘Everything that Rises Must Converge’Davóne Tines & Jennifer Koh to Team Up for ‘Everything that Rises Must Converge’
"The UCLA Center for the Art of Performance will feature violinist Jennifer Koh and bass-baritone Davóne Tines in “Everything That Rises Must Converge on April 17, 2020 at Royce Hall.
The showcase will bring together the two artists’ family histories through music and the voices of their ancestors via projection, lighting, and movement directed by James Darrah.
David Salazar, Opera Wire, March 5, 2020
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In the Glass Violin Concerto No. 1 with Oklahoma City Philharmonic"...Returning guest artist Jennifer Koh closed the first half with a polished performance of Philip Glass’ "Violin Concerto No. 1."...The slow second movement was hypnotically enchanting... the kaleidoscopic rhythmic and tonal shifts created an overwhelmingly magical sound-world. The first half finished on a beautiful note with Koh’s encore of solo Bach, a stunningly emotive contrast with the impersonal Glass concerto..."
Lauren Monteiro, The Oklahoman, January 16, 2020
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World Premiere Courtney Bryan's Syzygy with Chicago SinfoniettaChicago Sinfonietta presents Sight + Sound
"...Recognized for her dazzling virtuosity and technical assurance, American violinist Jennifer Koh is truly a unique musician as she has expanded the contemporary violin repertoire through a wide range of commissioned projects. Koh, a native Chicagoan, has premiered more than 70 works written especially for her. Syzygy, a three-movement work that is commissioned in collaboration with The New American Concerto, Arco Collaborative's multi-season commissioning project, became another gem in the brilliant palette of Koh's repertoire..."
Natalia Dagenhart, Naperville Patch, February 29, 2020
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[Feature] The Listening Room: Episode 87"...Missy Mazzoli’s A Thousand Tongues makes a welcome appearance in a version for violin and piano (it was originally conceived for cello) played by Jennifer Koh with the composer at the piano (and presumably also doing the singing!)..."
Gramophone, December 16, 2019
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[Feature] Listener’s Choice"Friday the 13th brought weird things to the Listener’s Choice playlist last week, so here it is! [...] Missy Mazzoli: Vespers for Violin (Jennifer Koh, violin; Missy Mazzoli, electronics)"
John Scherch, WBJC, December 16, 2019
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[CD Review] Jennifer Koh - LimitlessThe 25 Best Classical Music Tracks of 2019
"This list of our critics’ favorite albums of the year, each represented by a single track, is a lot like the classical music scene: It might seem at first to be dominated by standards — alphabetical order, alas — but quickly reveals rarer treasures, from overlooked centuries-old works to fresh experiments. Enjoy.
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Du Yun: ‘Give Me Back My Fingerprints’ “Limitless”; Jennifer Koh, violin (Cedille) Part of Ms. Koh’s double-disc project of collaborations with composers who also perform alongside her, this piece rises from quietly uneasy to rabid and raw, then back again. Violin lines emerge, as if from far away, to mingle with Ms. Du’s earthy, murmuring, sometimes choking voice."
Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times, December 12, 2019
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"The most valuable classical recordings of the year span a vast range, from genre-stretching contemporary music to re-evaluations of standard repertory: [...]
Jennifer Koh: “Limitless” (Cedille Records). In a bold and stylistically diverse recording, violinist Koh plays a series of duos with the composers of eight works included on this two-CD set. Where else is one likely to encounter music of contemporary composer-pianist Missy Mazzoli, soprano Lisa Bielawa and MacArthur Fellows Vijay Iyer (piano) and Tyshawn Sorey (glockenspiel) in a single project? The sounds are every bit as eclectic as one might expect, a testament to Koh’s adventurousness and the creativity of all involved."
Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune, December 3, 2019
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[Feature] Musician's inspiration"As part of her mission to serve the artistic communities she is involved in, Koh commissions a lot of work. In particular, she advocates for and supports the work of female composers and composers of colour.
The latest project she has been involved in seeks to reflect what America is - including women and people of colour might, hopefully, broaden ideas of who gets to be counted within ideas of ''America''."
Rebecca Fox, Otago Daily Times, November 14, 2019
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In the Salonen’s Violin Concerto with New Zealand Symphony Orchestra"Starting from the extremely virtuosic opening movement, where the light-toned but restless violin part scarcely seemed to stop its breathless passagework, Koh showed her mastery of all of the work’s difficulties even as the violin line become ever more embellished and accelerated to an almost unrealistic speed."
Simon Holden, Bachtrack, November 11, 2019
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"All sections of the orchestra are treated with the brilliance of a master orchestrator, and the ferocious violin part would daunt many a famous virtuoso. But not Jennifer Koh. She was completely inside the work, illuminating every page with stunning, seemingly effortless, skill. The orchestra under de Waart was scarcely less impressive; together composer, orchestra, conductor and violinist left us stunned."
John Button, Stuff, November 10, 2019
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"United States violinist Jennifer Koh, comparably alive to and inspired by the music’s character, played here. The programme notes quote his remarks at the time, writing that his move to the United States caused him to question the assumptions that his experiences in Europe had taught him: inter alia, to “avoid melody, clear harmonic centres and clear sense of pulse … over here I was able to think about this rule that forbids melody. It’s madness!”... it’s the woodwinds and celeste that are the soloist’s main companions in the semiquaver department, though Koh was vividly centre stage, playing constantly through the near ten minutes of the first movement for all but a dozen or so measures."
Lindis Taylor, Middle C, November 8, 2019
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[CD Review] Jennifer Koh - LimitlessSTRINGS MAGAZINE (November-December 2019): News & Notes
"Violinist Jennifer Koh's latest album Limitless is based on her 2018 project of the same name, where the violinist explored musical collaboration with various contemporary composers. The two-disc album presents all duos: Koh performs with the composers themselves in various world-premiere recordings."
Strings Magazine, November-December 2019 issue
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Album of the week
"Koh, needless to say, is sensational throughout: responsive to each composer’s demands, and fiercely committed to making each piece sing true in collaboration with its creator. The project is a paradigm shift in thinking about composers who perform, and about representation on the concert platform; the result is a beautiful, compelling collection of intimate conversations and collective statements."
Steve Smith, National Sawdust Log, September 13, 2019
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[Feature] Jennifer Koh's LimitlessHear the virtuoso Jennifer Koh work with three composers on new collaborations.
Listen In on a Violinist’s Rehearsal Room
"“That was good,” the violinist Jennifer Koh told the soprano and composer Lisa Bielawa during a recent rehearsal. But then she pointed to a spot on her sheet music and said, “I do think we should take more time here.” They were at Ms. Koh’s apartment in Upper Manhattan, practicing Ms. Bielawa’s “Sanctuary Songs,” which the two will perform together at National Sawdust this month as part of “Limitless,” Ms. Koh’s latest project to commission new music from a diverse slate of composers — who, in a new twist, will be onstage playing with her."
Joshua Barone, New York Times, March 14, 2018
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In the Ligeti Violin Concerto with Chamber Orchestra Avanti!"...As a whole, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra is one of the most compelling masterpieces by Ligeti, both immensely challenging and profoundly rewarding. The same could be said about the performance, one of spellbinding musicality.
Appearing out of nowhere, the concerto opens with a solo violin ostinato, joined by the ensemble of solo strings, resulting in a luminous contrapuntal fabric, coloured and accentuated by winds, brass and percussion. Rooted in exquisite teamwork by Koh, Avanti! and Brönnimann, the concerto was set in motion with excellence.
Emotionally, the second and fourth movements form a gravitational centre for the concerto, with their utmost delicacy and fragility, clad in outlandish harmonic guises. Performed with marvellous expressiveness and careful attention to detail, these movements provided the audience with a profoundly moving journey.
The short middle movement demonstrated the dazzling fluidity of the soloist, alongside the whole ensemble, and the conductor, with is seamless contrapuntal flow. In similar manner, the closing movement was a case in point of virtuosity, culminating in Koh’s whirlwind of a performance of the Zorn cadenza..."
Jari Kallio, AIM - ADVENTURES IN MUSIC, June 30, 2019
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Jennifer Koh's Shared Madness"...Taking full advantage of the venue’s unusually “live” acoustics, Koh delivered a stunning performance supercharged by the full range of her instrument’s extended techniques.... In addition to the immense pleasure of witnessing one of the world’s top solo performers in any genre on any instrument, we got to listen in on the global conversation that’s happening among composers who inhabit the highest rungs of modern music.... One highlight that definitely deserves mentioning is “Sense,” the stunning contribution made to this set by Kaija Saariaho, who is also the subject of Koh’s most recent CD release, Saariaho X Koh, which came out in November of 2018..."
Charles Donelan, Santa Barbara Independent, April 16, 2019
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“Limitless” with Missy Mazzoli"I talked in my last post about Steven Isserlis making a concert joyful, because he felt joy himself. Two nights after I heard him, on March 8, went to the WoCo Fest, a festival of music by women, and was so radiated with joy that I cancelled plans I had for the next night, and went back again...Violinist Jennifer Koh playing works by Missy Mazzoli. That’s high-level stuff, for those keeping score, but what mattered more was that Koh and Mazzoli, who we know are good at what they do, just glowed. To each other, to us, and into the music, which also glowed, with Mazzoli taking part with electronics..."
Greg Sandow, Sandow: an Arts Journal Blog, April 16, 2019
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In the Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Jacksonville Symphony."In an effort to promote the coverage of live violin performance, Violinist.com each week presents links to reviews of notable concerts and recitals around the world.
[...]
Jennifer Koh performed Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto in No. 1 D major with the Jacksonville Symphony.
The Florida Times-Union: "This work shows Prokofiev at his most lyrical and imaginative, and Koh was an ideal interpreter, keeping the melodies clear and projected in the most tender and intimate moments. Happily, Koh also had all the required firepower and deployed fusillades of notes deftly in the thundering passages. She displayed not just understanding but a commitment to the piece that made for an exceptional musical event.""
Laurie Niles, violinist.com, April 9, 2019
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[CD Review] Saariaho x KohREVIEW - Saariaho Tocar. Cloud Trio. Light and Matter. Aure. Graal Theatre.
"...Koh's command of her violin is impeccable... she realizes the sheer beauty of Saariaho's writing while never letting the expressive intensity slip... an essential purchase. Saariaho's light continues to shine brightly."
Colin Clarke, Fanfare, April 2019
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"The title graphics of this Cedille CD are more than appropriate: it is not titled Saariaho & Koh but Saariaho X Koh. Indeed the two artists’ immense talents are not merely added together–they multiply into a most enjoyable and fascinating program... Short it may be, but Aure is one of the highlights of Saariaho X Koh. Anissi Karttunen on cello joins Koh in this most emotional yet ephemeral performance... As one expects from Cedille Records, Saariaho X Koh is a finely engineered disc with informative notes in a slim, attractive package. Seek this one out, you won’t be disappointed! For Saariaho or Koh fans, it is a given that you will want this in your collection."
Don Clark, I CARE IF YOU LISTEN, March 20, 2019
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"Jennifer Koh is without doubt one of the finest violinists working today, especially in contemporary music... On this CD we get to hear Koh in the intimate settings of chamber music where the skills of listening to others is so critical as the individual voices weave their parts though the texture... Brava Ms. Koh and Ms. Saariaho! This is a collaboration blessed by the Gods. Saariaho x Koh = bliss."
Allan J. Cronin, New Music Buff, March 6, 2019
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LIMELIGHT MAGAZINE (March 2019): Saariaho X Koh Review (5/5 Stars)
"This is string writing of the highest order, stretching the textural capabilities of the violin and recorded with rich and sympathetic resonance (check the glorious cello in Cloud Trio). Koh is superb, her sensitively virtuosic playing indicative of a deep and instinctive connection with Saariaho's writing. Magnificent."
Lisa MacKinney, Limelight Magazine, March 2019
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New Music That Fits Like an Old Glove"Koh has been performing Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Lachen Verlernt (Laughter Unlearned) for several years now. The piece is inspired by a phrase from Arnold Schoenberg’s song cycle Pierrot Lunaire. The composer tells us it’s a chaconne (a Baroque dance with a repeating bass line), like Bach’s famous exemplar from the Partita No. 2. It starts off meeting that expectation, but beyond the first few phrases it becomes progressively unhinged, leading to passages of furious bariolage and, eventually, single-string scrubbing. It’s a little strange watching the self-possessed Koh enter into this manic sound world, but she fully expressed the music’s interior monologue."
Michael Zwiebach, San Francisco Classical Voice, March 12, 2019
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[CD Review] Saariaho x Koh"The ever-adventurous and intrepid Jennifer Koh heard her music and immediately felt that this was a composer that she had to get to know... Throughout, the performances are marvelous, and the sound, recorded in three locations, remarkably consistent and clear as a bell. A worthwhile disc for the moderately adventurous."
Steven Ritter, Audiophile Audition, March 6, 2019
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“Limitless” with Missy Mazzoli"Koh, a powerhouse soloist, plunged into a string of Mazzoli’s violin works from the last 15 years, many of them written for her, most of them interlaced with electronics and keyboard samplings refracting out from the sound of her strings, like the light reflecting off the shards of mirror that studded her concert dress."
Anne Midgete, The Washington Post, March 10, 2019
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"The Boulanger Initiative, formed to promote music composed by women, takes its name from the two French sister composers. The organization will launch its WoCo Fest, a festival devoted to women composers, this weekend at Blind Whino, the art and performance space in Southwest Washington. The first of three days of concerts, lectures, and other programs coincides with International Women’s Day on Friday."
Charles T. Downey, Washington Classical Review, March 5, 2019
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In the Salonen’s Violin Concerto with Houston Symphony"But intriguing opportunities arise when months of planning go out the window with just two days’ notice. Here it came in the form of Jennifer Koh, a virtuoso in her own right who navigated Salonen’s complex composition with elegance and aplomb."
Chris Gray, Houston Chronicle, March 4, 2019
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[CD Review] Saariaho x Koh5 Stars
Steph Power, BBC Music Magazine, February Issue
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Bridge to Beethoven III with Shai Wosner"The violinist Jennifer Koh and the pianist Shai Wosner are moderating a conversation across the centuries between Beethoven and today's composers.... "It's fascinating to come to an understanding of how these composers hear other composers and other works," Koh said of the yearslong collaborative process... New music may struggle to fill concert halls as readily as Beethoven still does nearly 200 years after his death. But Koh and Wosner believe that contemporary composers can find audiences if the work is excellent and is placed in the right context. Wosner noted that placing new music alongside Beethoven can open people's minds to it, paraphrasing the pianist and author Charles Rosen saying "music is only difficult if you are listening for something that is not there."
Andrew Travers, Aspen Times, February 6, 2019
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In Vijay Iyer's Trouble"Koh possesses this special quality in her playing of capturing both muscular power and expressive force with the ability to also communicate a beautiful litheness and tenderness at the music flows...Trouble ended on an optimistic push of life forces and unity...All the struggles, victories and defeats of a people seemed wrapped up in this bracing piece of music, with Koh and the BMOP confidently at its helm."
Nelson Brill, Boston Concert Reviews, February 5, 2019
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Jennifer Koh's Shared MadnessCritically acclaimed violinist Jennifer Koh to perform
"The student-led Ethos New Music Society will bring Jennifer Koh, a world-famous violinist known for intense, commanding performances delivered with dazzling virtuosity and technical assurance, to the State University of New York at Fredonia for a concert on Tuesday, Feb. 5, at 8 p.m., in Rosch Recital Hall.
[...]
“Jennifer is one of the preeminent violinists in the world … not only because of her skill and artistry, but because of her thoughtful and open mindset about the music she plays,” said School of Music Associate Professor Rob Deemer."
Art Voice, January 30, 2019
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[CD Review] Saariaho x Koh"Artistic Quality: 10 Sound Quality: 10 If you are a performer, you are also a chooser of repertoire. And if you are a thoughtful, practical, intelligent chooser–as is our soloist here, Jennifer Koh–you make your choices not on what you can play, but rather on what draws you, what compels you, what calls you.
[...]
Koh has found music that has uniquely challenged and inspired her, and, because she is an exceptional artist, she is giving us something unique and inspired relative to her discovery. Again, she is not playing Beethoven or Mozart because that’s what you do as a violinist; she’s playing something new that has somehow reached deep into her being as an artist. She is like a great theatre actor, delivering a monologue in a manner most intensely personal and riveting, rooted in technique and experience, but making its effect because it’s born of sincere human emotion and an honest affinity for the subject."
David Vernier, Classics Today, January 21, 2019
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"This disc is a very good example of what can happen when a leading modern composer links in with some of the finest of our young(ish) musicians with a particular calling to perform and record challenging contemporary music. The highlighted performer here is Jennifer Koh but she has a wonderful support team... This disc is worth exploring and I feel represents the composer fairly for anyone new to her. "
Gary Higginson, Music Web International, January 20, 2019
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Violinist Jennifer Koh, Live from NYC, and Coming to Baltimore"Acclaimed classical violinist Jennifer Koh joins us live from the studios of NPR in New York City. Not only is she a virtuoso player, she is one of the great champions of contemporary composers, having commissioned more than 70 works from a brilliant and diverse group of composers from all over the world.
Ms. Koh will be playing a concert on Sunday, January 27 at 5:30pm at Baltimore's Hebrew Congregation, performing a program of Beethoven Sonatas and a modern piece by Vijay Iyer, with her frequent concert partner, pianist Shai Wosner, as part of the Shriver Hall Concert Series.
We're delighted to welcome Jennifer Koh to Midday, today. She talks about her art and her upcoming concert, and performs two short solo pieces: “Kinski Paganini,” by Missy Mazzoli, and the Sarabande from the Violin Partita in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach.
The show's closing music is from the first movement of Beethoven's Sonata for Violin and Piano No 1. in D Minor, Op. 12, performed by Jennifer Koh and Shai Wosner at the Aspen Music Festival and School, in July 2015."
Tom Hall & Rob Sivak, WYPR, January 18, 2019
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American Composers Orchestra Announces 2019 Gala Honorees"On Wednesday, March 20, 2019, American Composers Orchestra (ACO) celebrates four individuals - true forces of nature - who have effected change in the American musical landscape at its annual Gala: Jon Deak, Founder & Artistic Director of New York Philharmonic's Very Young Composers; violinist Jennifer Koh; composer and conductor Tania León; and Frederick Wertheim, ACO Board Chairman.
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The music program features tributes and musical selections spotlighting the honorees. Missy Mazzoli's Tooth and Nail (2010) will be performed by honoree Jennifer Koh with Missy Mazzoli. This piece is part of Koh's Limitless project, which explores the relationship between composer and performer through duo works played by Koh and the composers themselves."
Broadway World, January 17, 2019
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Wednesday at the Amsterdam: Liquid Music: Jennifer Koh: “Limitless” with Tyshawn Sorey and Vijay Iyer.Wednesday at the Amsterdam: Liquid Music: Jennifer Koh: “Limitless” with Tyshawn Sorey and Vijay Iyer. Searching for a pithy phrase to describe this event, we keep returning to “a gathering of Olympians.” This is a serious threesome and one that won’t often pass our way. Violinist Koh is a prodigy and virtuoso violinist who’s at home in classical repertory and contemporary music. Percussionist/composer Sorey and pianist/composer Iyer are both MacArthur fellows whose vast sonic territories include jazz. Along with “Limitless,” commissioned by Koh and first performed at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, we’ll hear improvisations and explorations using Iyer’s “The Diamond” and Sorey’s “In Memoriam: Muhal Richard Abrams.” 7:30 p.m. FMI and tickets ($30/25; free for children 6-17 and students).
Pamela Espeland, Minnesota Post, January 8, 2019
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[CD Review] Saariaho x Koh"For this album, violinist Jennifer Koh teams up with a shifting array of collaborators to perform chamber works by the celebrated Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. These works tread a careful line between the invitingly lyrical and the forbiddingly academic, offering plenty of structural complexity but also lots of accessible sonic beauty. Some pieces are spikier than others–the one-movement trio Light and Matter is particularly knotty–but all of them make powerful melodic as well as textural statements and coherently convey strong emotion as well as structural complexity. Light and Matter is presented here in its world-premiere recording, as is the violin/cello version of a brief piece titled Aure. Strongly recommended to all classical collections."
Rick Anderson, CD HotList, January 7, 2019
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Bridge to Beethoven ISHRIVER HALL BALTIMORE PREMIERES
First Impression: A New Thing on New Music
You may also recall hearing about the Shriver Hall Concert Series on our air; on January 27th at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, violinist Jennifer Koh and pianist Shai Wosner present the Baltimore premiere of Vijay Iyer’s Bridgetower Fantasy, paired with works of Beethoven including his Kreutzer sonata, originally dedicated to and premiered by George Bridgetower, a famous 18th-century Afro-European violinist, with the composer at the piano (the rededication to Kreutzer followed an argument over what Beethoven construed as Bridgetower’s insult of a female acquaintance).
John Scherch, WBJC, January 3, 2019
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[Interview] Inclusion, Collaboration, EvolutionVanessa Rose, The SPCO's Liquid Music, December 10, 2018
VR: What I appreciate about your advocacy for new music and composers is that you do not see it as an either/or choice with traditional, revered classical works, but rather embracing the and as well as the vibrancy and relevancy it brings to our current repertoire. Your projects include pairing all ten of Beethoven’s violin sonatas with new works and inviting composers to reimagine the violin concerto. How do you approach this expansion of your repertoire and selecting the composers you work with?
JK: I’ve always seen contemporary music as a thread to the past. My experience with performing new music is that often audiences who have not experienced classical music can relate to contemporary music, which engages with contemporary sounds and creates a pathway to experiencing older music.
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[CD Review] Saariaho x Koh"Highly recommended to lovers of Saariaho, Koh and great chamber music!"
Marcus Karl Maroney, ConcertoNet, December 5, 2018
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In Vijay Iyer's TroubleJohn Ehrlich, The Boston Musical Intelligencer, December 5, 2018
"This high-minded approach to philosophical music-making seems an ideal match to Koh’s protean gifts as a soloist. She exudes empathy with the composer she is playing, allowing her gifted virtuosity to meld with that which appears to be the composer’s intent. This is a rare gift, and she has it in abundance....
Trouble, in its six movements, makes many demands of its performers, yet it falls easily on a listener’s ears. One felt, at its conclusion, that a journey had commenced and taken one to an arrival of consequence. Its message is timely, necessary, and forceful. The audience seemed rightly dazzled by Koh’s brilliant musicianship and accorded her and the BMOP players a warm and lengthy ovation."
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[CD Review] Saariaho x Koh"“SAARIAHO X KOH” (Cedille): The phenomenal violinist Jennifer Koh includes Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho on her list of the living composers whose music always inspires her. This new recording shows why. Included are Saariaho’s violin concerto, “Graal Théâtre,” along with world premiere recordings of “Light and Matter” and the violin and cello version of “Aure.”"
Georgia Rowe, The Mercury News, December 10, 2018
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"Violinist Jennifer Koh performs five works by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, including the world-premiere recordings of "Light and Matter" for violin, cello, and piano, inspired by sunlit colors and shadows in a city park outside the composer's window; as well as the violin and cello version of "Aure," meaning a gentle breeze, created for and dedicated to Koh and cellist Anssi Karttunen, another champion of Saariaho's music."
Laurie Niles, violinist.com, November 8, 2018
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"Saariaho's music nearly always seems to combine great power with delicacy. Koh shines in both; her touch is assured and passionate when required, with a gorgeous full sound but also the most tender fragility."
Dean Frey, Music for Several Instruments, November 6, 2018
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Interview with Violinist Jennifer Koh on Her “Musical Alchemy”James Robertson, Cornell Sun, October 21, 2018
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In Bernstein's Serenade with Delaware Symphony"On the concerts, following “Dark Mountains,” violinist Jennifer Koh will perform Leonard Bernstein’s only work for solo violin and orchestra, his “Serenade (After Plato’s ‘Symposium’).” ... "Music Director David Amado said ... “I am so excited to welcome violinist Jennifer Koh back to The Grand for her take on Bernstein’s Serenade – a work filled with extraordinary technical demands on both soloist and orchestra – and infused with Bernstein’s signature tunefulness, sly wit, and rhythmic playfulness."
The Cape Gazette, September 23, 2018
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Jennifer Koh's Shared MadnessViolinist Jennifer Koh on creating a diverse and thriving future for classical music
"An alumna of the Music Institute of Chicago, Koh emphasized the critical importance of fostering community, diversity. and opportunity for future generations of classical artists. "If we don't engage with supporting composers, we are not going to have the next Bach, the next Beethoven, or the next Brahms.""
Keegan Morris, WFMT, September 18, 2018
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In the Glass Violin Concerto with Rhode Island Philharmonic"The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra welcomes guest coductor Anu Tali to The VETS stage for ... Philip Glass's First Violin Concerto, featuring violinist Jennifer Koh ... In 2014, Jennifer Koh gave a riveting performance with the R.I. Philharmonic Orchestra of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," captivating a record-setting audience. She is recognized for intense, commanding performances, delivered with dazzling virtuosity and technical assurance."
Pawtucket Times, September 6, 2018
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Sept. 15 | Nichols Hall, Evanston, ILFall Entertainment Guide 2018: Classical music
"SEPT. 15, violinist Jennifer Koh, Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston (musicinst.org). Not only is Koh an internationally renowned violinist, she also happens to be a native of Glen Ellyn and an alumna of the Music Institute of Chicago, the concert’s presenter. She will perform two solo sonatas by J.S. Bach as well as John Harbison’s “For Violin Alone,” which Koh premiered in 2015 in New York City."
Kyle MacMillan, Chicago Sun Times, September 6, 2018
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10 classical concerts to catch this fall
"Sept. 15 | Nichols Hall, Evanston: Returning to the Music Institute of Chicago as a star alumna, violinist Jennifer Koh co-stars with some of the greatest repertoire for solo violin: two pieces culled from Bach's intricate set of six sonatas and partitas. A blue-ribbon commissioner of new works for solo violin, Koh also plays "For Violin Alone," a seven-movement, looking-Bach work by contemporary composer John Harbison."
Graham Meyer, Chicago Business, August 23, 2018
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[Feature] Meet the Alumni: Jennifer Koh (Violin ’02)"I think one of the great things about Curtis is that you’re working with people who are also very active members of the music world and are not just simply pedagogues,” says Jennifer. “Both [Laredo and Galimir] shared their own histories while I was simultaneously having my own experiences as a younger musician. Felix had very, very direct experiences of racism when he was in the Vienna Philharmonic…and I would share with him my own stories of what I was coming up against. And because he had gone through…these struggles himself, he was able to share that with me."
Curtis Institute of Music News, September 4, 2018
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From the community: Violinist Jennifer Koh Comes Home to Perform September 15"The Music Institute of Chicago welcomes back alumna violinist Jennifer Koh for the opening concert of its 2018-19 Faculty and Guest Artist Series Saturday, September 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the historic Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue in downtown Evanston.The acclaimed Glen Ellyn native returns to play a program featuring two solo works by Bach-Sonata No. 1 in G minor and Sonata No. 3 in C Major-juxtaposed with a contemporary piece for solo violin, For Violin Alone, by John Harbison. Critics have described her playing of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas as intense, beautifully shaped, and mesmerizing. "Koh's arresting tone and emotional interpretations of Bach are a perfect fit for the acoustics of Nichols Concert Hall," said Music Institute President and CEO Mark George."
Jill Chukerman, Chicago Tribune, August 10, 2018
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A beginner’s guide to enjoying classical music. No snobs allowed"Classical music isn’t just about the composers. As is true in any area of music, audiences are drawn to the magnetism of great performers. Following a magnetic, gifted artist might be an even better way to get into the field than seeking out performances of masterpieces. The pianists Daniil Trifonov and Yuja Wang; the violinists Hilary Hahn, Leila Josefowicz, and Jennifer Koh; the singer Julia Bullock are just a few of the artists with particularly distinctive viewpoints, whose concerts are almost always memorable. Or, notice who’s the music director of your local orchestra, and see what you think of his or her approach."
Anne Midgette, The Washington Post, August 10, 2018
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In Review: The Dream Unfinished + Contemporaneous"The penultimate work on the lineup was by the pianist-composer Vijay Iyer. The violinist Jennifer Koh, whose mother was a refugee who fled North Korea, joined Iyer for The Diamond (2018), inspired by a Buddhist text known as “The Diamond that Cuts Through Illusion.” Divided into four sections, the piece opened with violin whispers that floated over misty piano chords then soared over roiling piano motifs. The music, at times elusive, transparent, and raucous, unfolded in a densely textured dialogue between the two instruments."
Vivien Schweitzer, National Sawdust Log, August 2, 2018
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In Bernstein's Serenade with Philadelphia Orchestra"... a celebration of the omnipresent Bernstein centennial promises to be well worth the trip upstate: the brilliant violinist Jennifer Koh will make her Saratoga début in the blithe “Serenade (After Plato’s ‘Symposium’),” in a concert that also features music from “On the Waterfront” and “West Side Story”; Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts."
Steve Smith, The New Yorker, August 6 & 13 Issue
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Violinist Jennifer Koh Opens 18-19 Artist Series at Music Institute of Chicago"The acclaimed Glen Ellyn native returns to play a program featuring two solo works by Bach-Sonata No. 1 in G minor and Sonata No. 3 in C Major-juxtaposed with a contemporary piece for solo violin, For Violin Alone, by John Harbison. Critics have described her playing of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas as intense, beautifully shaped, and mesmerizing. "Koh's arresting tone and emotional interpretations of Bach are a perfect fit for the acoustics of Nichols Concert Hall," said Music Institute President and CEO Mark George."
Broadway World, July 27, 2018
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When Orchestras Turn Activist"Teaming up with the ensemble Contemporaneous as well as the pianist-composer Vijay Iyer and the violinist Jennifer Koh, it will present music by composers who identify with their immigrant roots."
William Robin, The New York Times, July 22, 2018
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Jennifer Koh at Salt Bay ChamberfestFamed violinist Jennifer Koh to play Bach
"The afternoon’s highlight will be a performance by world-famous violinist Jennifer Koh of Bach’s dazzling and acrobatic “Solo Violin Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005.” An electrifying performer and a Salt Bay Chamberfest regular, Koh was named 2016 Musician of the Year by Musical America."
Boothbay Register, July 22, 2018
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Jennifer Koh feature in Symphony Magazine's Summer 2018 Issue"It's never happened before: each of the five keynote speakers at this year's National Conference are musicians. They are Vijay Gupta, violin, Los Angeles Philharmonic; Jennifer Koh, violin; Demarre McGill ... We have had some pretty terrific speakers at our conferences, but musicians have been the exception, and I wonder what that says about us."
Christian Lloyd, Strad, July 2018
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Jennifer Koh feature in The Strad’s July 2018 IssueSentimental Work: Jennifer Koh
"What I found particularly interesting about my response to Graal - and all Kaija's music - is that it made me feel immediately as if I already knew her. There's complete honesty in her mode of expression, as well as a vulnerability that fascinated me and drew me in."
Christian Lloyd, Strad, July 2018
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World Premiere Christopher Cerrone's 'Violin Concerto' with Detroit Symphony Orchestra"If you need something to binge watch this weekend, try the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s YouTube channel. That ambitious ensemble has put videos of all its world premieres from the past season online. One in particular that I keep coming back to: Christopher Cerrone’s violin concerto, written for Jennifer Koh. (I’m always eager to hear what this adventurous violinist is up to, and was able to observe some of her insightful rehearsals with composers earlier this year.)"
Josh Barone, The New York Times, June 29, 2018
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Jennifer Koh's Limitless"Jan. 9, 2019 at the Amsterdam; Jennifer Koh: “Limitless” with Tyshawn Sorey and Vijay Iyer. Violinist Koh made her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age 11 and has appeared with the Minnesota Orchestra, among many others. For “Limitless,” presented at National Sawdust in Brooklyn earlier this year, she commissioned 10 composers, including jazz artists and MacArthur fellows Sorey and Iyer, to create new music to perform with her. Their works will be the centerpieces of this program, and they’ll add composed and improvised solos, duos and trios. On Jan. 11 and 12, Sorey and Iyer will also perform more new works with the SPCO and artistic partner Pekka Kuusisto. Nordstrum said, “One of the many reasons we created Liquid Music was to engage in conversation with what the SPCO is doing.” "
Pamela Espeland, Minnpost, June 26, 2018
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World Premiere Christopher Cerrone's 'Violin Concerto' with Detroit Symphony Orchestra"The primary difference in preparing an older work which I’ve known and performed for decades is that I spend a lot of time working to disentangle myself from musical assumptions that can come from influences of previous performances of these works by myself or others... I try to be conscious of not simply phrasing out of habit and to never work from a place of previous performance practices. I want to discover my own path and understanding of music, whether it is old or new!!"
Jennifer Koh, The Violin Channel, June 19, 2018
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"[Jenny] invited me to see her play an unaccompanied recital at the 92nd Street Y of Bach along with other brand-new works. Something I noticed — beyond her consummate virtuosity — was her ability to burn through bow hair at a furious pace because her performances were so intense and passionate. In the short work that I composed [for Shared Madness], “Shall I Project a World,” I endeavored to write a piece that would allow her to be both masterful and also ardent in her performing."
Christopher Cerrone, The Violin Channel, June 19, 2018
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"[Video] Jennifer Koh performing composer Christopher Cerrone‘s world-premiere performance of Concerto for Violin and Orchestra 'Breaks and Breaks'"
The Violin Channel, June 19, 2018
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New-Music Premieres in Detroit
"The piece, whose varied imagery was also influenced by several non-Kunitz texts, was written for the Chicago-born violinist Jennifer Koh, a musician of immaculate control, keen intelligence and a slightly cool demeanor, for whom the composer had previously written a short solo work. The combination of score and soloist could hardly have been better matched."
David Mermelstein, The Wall Street Journal, May 31, 2018
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Detroit Symphony Orchestra – Peter Oundjian conducts Diamond Rain & Pathétique Symphony – Jennifer Koh plays Christopher Cerrone’s Breaks and Breaks [live webcast]"[The] performance was obviously good, with Jennifer Koh outstandingly committed, and there were occasional moments when accruing intensity caught the attention"
Colin Anderson, Classical Source, May 26, 2018
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World Premiere Christopher Cerrone's 'Violin Concerto' with Detroit Symphony Orchestra"The concerto was written for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the soloist, Jennifer Koh, a violinist much acclaimed for both her skill and her wide embrace of musics both classical and contemporary. The commissioning came about, in large part, because Cerrone happened to be sitting in a certain chair during a meeting, a chair next to Erik Rönmark, Vice President and General Manager of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra."
Dayton Hare, The Michigan Daily, May 23, 2018
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League Announces 73rd National Conference In Chicago"Violinist Jennifer Koh, an adventurous musician who pushes boundaries and avidly advances the new music canon, will be the featured performer at the League's Luncheon and General Meeting on June 14. Koh will also speak at the convening, offering her perspective on how orchestra constituents can work together to achieve true representation of our country--including expanded opportunities for women in this era of social reckoning--on stage, in our organizations, and in audiences."
BWW News Desk, Broadway World, May 10, 2018
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[Feature] The New American ConcertoJennifer Koh plays Chris Cerrone Concerto World Premiere, May 26
Gramophone, June 2018 Issue
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5 Questions to Jennifer Koh (violinist)
"The New American Concerto project is about creating a collection of new concerti for violin that would both engage the traditional form of violin concerti and also challenge that form. I wanted to create a commissioning initiative that would reflect the country that I live in, and the individual and collective experiences of both composers and myself."
Don Clark, I Care If You Listen, May 8, 2018
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In Saariaho's "Graal Theatre" with Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra/Karina Canellakis"Koh is an adventurous musician for whom the challenges of the barbed Saariaho piece are meat and drink. She is quite receptive to music that expands the violin's conventional idioms...In Koh's electrifying performance Friday night at Hilbert Circle Theatre, the audience heard how the violin weaves scratchiness, frantic string crossings, harmonics, gymnastic registral leaps, ghostly murmurings and fluty sounds into a whole. The textures are sometimes knotted, sometimes gossamer-thin."
Jay Harvey, Jay Harvey Upstage, May 5, 2018
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[Interview] Classical Music Indy, Jennifer Koh Interview with Michael Toulouse"Violinist Jennifer Koh is in town this weekend to perform a violin concerto by contemporary composer Kaija Saariaho on May 3, May 4, and May 6. She recently sat down with Michael Toulouse to talk about the concerto she’ll be performing with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and why this composer’s music means so much to her."
Michael Toulouse, Classical Music Indy, May 3, 2018
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Jennifer Koh's Shared Madness"Koh opened with a short prepared speech that outlined the story of her journey, the troubles she has encountered as an Asian-American female musician, and what her aim is as an artist. She grew up in Illinois, and she recalled children ostracizing her for her Asian descent and adults speaking slowly to her. Many people assumed that she was not fluent in English. Similar stereotypical assumptions carried forward throughout her professional career...To encapsulate her ethos, she said, “I fight back as an artist by creating the world I want to live in."
Peter McMaster, The Bottom Line, May 2, 2018
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"Koh's Friday recital would surely have felt special any place, given her ability to hold an audience spellbound for 90 nonstop minutes of new music. But unique to Santa Barbara was the venue's sense of spiritual remove, magnificently enhanced by a reverberant enveloping acoustic that gave Koh's violin a lustrous aura."
Mark Swed, LA Times, April 30, 2018
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"International violin sensation Jennifer Koh will perform a program of works written for her at Saint Anthony's Chapel. UCSB Arts & Lectures brings the remarkable violinist Jennifer Koh — Musical America’s 2016 Instrumentalist of the Year — to Santa Barbara for a recital. Koh will play selections from her epic program Shared Madness, which consists of short works for solo violin, written for her by 30-plus notable contemporary composers."
Gerald Carpenter, Noozhawk, April 27, 2018
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[Feature] Violinist Continues Pursuing her Fine, Venturesome Madness"Widely-heralded and inherently venturesome violinist Jennifer Koh has thankfully shared some of her artistic and methodical madness with the 805 audience stretching back over several years now. She challenged assumptions and impressed with her core musicality, with her old-meeting-new repertoire projects, "Beyond Bach" and "Bridge to Beethoven," and most recently in the area, was the dynamic spotlighted soloist in Vijay Iyer's new Violin Concerto at the Ojai Music Festival last summer. Enter the new creature in Ms. Koh's world: "Shared Madness"... We checked in with the unique, ever-forward-moving and periodically temporary Santa Barbara virtuoso recently for an interview and update."
Josef Woodard, Scene Magazine, April 27, 2018
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[Feature] Violinist Jennifer Koh Gears Up to Release Music by Kaija SaariahoHear the virtuoso Jennifer Koh work with three composers on new collaborations.
"I can feel the audience with me as much as I feel the musicians onstage–and there’s something special about that communal experience. In our everyday lives we’re all constantly looking at our phones, our email, and listening to music at the same time, which makes being present harder to do, even though we consider ourselves to be in an age of connectivity. There’s something beautiful for me as a performer about being present with other people sharing a larger experience."
Laurence Vittes, Strings Magazine, April 17, 2018
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In the Sibelius Violin Concerto with Columbus Symphony Orchestra"Jennifer Koh dazzled in the Sibelius Violin Concerto. In the concerto’s fist movement, Koh’s first cadenza was clean and evenly paced, and she paced her phrases at the recapitulation with near surgical precision.The low end of Koh’s sound was lovely in the richly romantic melody at the beginning of the second movement. Throughout the movement, the orchestra followed her like a shadow."
Jennifer Hambrick, The Columbus Dispatch, April 7, 2018
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"The Columbus Symphony Presents A World Premiere And A World-Renowned Violinist"
Christopher Purdy, WOSU, April 6, 2018
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Jennifer Koh's Limitless"So it is perhaps unsurprising that the latest of her attempts to introduce new works into the string repertory is titled "Limitless." This new project focuses on duos that Ms. Koh performs alongside composers themselves, which on Saturday at National Sawdust will include an all-star lineup of musicians: Lisa Bielawa, Vijay Iyer, Nina Young, Tyshawn Sorey and the recent Pulitzer winner Du Yun. "
William Robin, New York Times, March 25, 2018
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"I recently sat in on rehearsals for the violinist Jennifer Koh’s program “Limitless,” a series of new duets she’ll perform with the composers this month at National Sawdust. She is a tireless champion of new music, but is also a nimble enough artist to hop among repertory staples and world premieres with stunning ease. Is there a better fit, then for Luciano Berio’s “Sequenza VIII” (1976), a work that speaks to both the adventurous spirit of 20th-century modernism and the violin’s rich history? See how, throughout this exhausting piece, she somehow offers new ways of looking at traditional violin gestures while Berio’s music nods to some of the most challenging music ever written for the instrument. And Listen for the chords: flashes of Bach’s immortal Chaconne."
Joshua Barone, New York Times, March 23, 2018
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[Feature] Jennifer Koh's LimitlessHear the virtuoso Jennifer Koh work with three composers on new collaborations.
Listen In on a Violinist’s Rehearsal Room
"“That was good,” the violinist Jennifer Koh told the soprano and composer Lisa Bielawa during a recent rehearsal. But then she pointed to a spot on her sheet music and said, “I do think we should take more time here.” They were at Ms. Koh’s apartment in Upper Manhattan, practicing Ms. Bielawa’s “Sanctuary Songs,” which the two will perform together at National Sawdust this month as part of “Limitless,” Ms. Koh’s latest project to commission new music from a diverse slate of composers — who, in a new twist, will be onstage playing with her."
Joshua Barone, New York Times, March 14, 2018
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Bridge to Beethoven, Program IIISF Chronicle critics’ picks: What to do the week of March 11
"Jennifer Koh and Shai Wosner: The innovative violin-and-piano duo returns to the Bay Area with the third installment of their “Bridge to Beethoven” commissioning project, featuring music by Beethoven and Andrew Norman. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 17. Weill Concert Hall, Green Music Center, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park. gmc.sonoma.edu"
Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, March 9, 2018
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LimitlessNYC Arts Top Five Picks
"VIOLINIST JENNIFER KOH PRESENTS "LIMITLESS" RECITAL SERIES As one of National Sawdust’s ten curators for the 2017-18 season, violinist Jennifer Koh presents Limitless, a two-night recital series that celebrates the collaborative relationship between composer and performer through duo performances. This spirit of collaboration contrasts with the conventional notion today that composition and performance are discrete and detached parts of the musical process, while also re-connecting with an older, pre-modern tradition of composers as performers. Ms. Koh has appeared with orchestras worldwide, including ..."
NYC Arts, March 9, 2018
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Jennifer Koh: Pushing Past Limits for Art and Community
"NATIONAL SAWDUST LOG: Why don’t we just dive right at the deep end, and talk about where the concept for “Limitless” came from?
JENNIFER KOH: We’ve lived in the world that we seem to live in right now for the last couple years… I mean, I feel like it’s been something that’s always been on my mind, since I am female and I am a minority. And I feel that there needs to be more equality in programming."
Steve Smith, National Sawdust Log, March 8, 2018
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Fresno Philharmonic Interviews: Rei Hotoda & Jennifer Koh"This Sunday the Fresno Philharmonic pays tribute to the centennial birthday of American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, with a concert at the Saroyan Theater. Maestro Rei Hotoda will lead the orchestra in a performance of Bernstein's Serenade for Violin and Orchestra with special guest Jennifer Koh. The concert also includes John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine and Aaron Copland's Symphony No. 3."
Joe Moore, KVPR, February 23, 2018
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March/April 2018 issue of American Record Guide of the Bridge to Beethoven performance in Rochester, NY."Jennifer Koh and Shai Wosner"
Gil French, American Record Guide, March/April 2018 Issue
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Violinist forges links between Bach’s music and living composersThe programs, which differ for each venue, are a spinoff of her Bach and Beyond project, which traces the connections between Bach’s six partitas and sonatas and subsequent solo violin works. Koh brought it into the present with commissions of new work. “I think it’s important to analyze and humanize composers we’ve calcified as great,” Koh said. “For me, what’s interesting is going back and looking at the musicians and the music itself and getting rid of preconceived notions.”
Jan Sjostrom, Palm Beach Daily News, February 17, 2018
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Jennifer Koh's Shared Madness"Reflecting a breathtaking level of technique, Koh hardly broke a sweat during her 90-minute matinee, handling everything these composers threw at her with seeming ease. And to her credit, she went beyond the fireworks and brought a sense of genuine depth and expressiveness to these works."
Kyle MacMillan, Classical Voice America, February 1, 2018
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Review: Glen Ellyn's Jennifer Koh premieres modern takes on Paganini"I caught the first program and came away admiring the formidable technical prowess, probing musicality and dedication Koh brought to this unusual undertaking more than some of the pieces themselves."
John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune, January 28, 2018
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Honrar al padre - El director Dennis Russel Davies corona en A Coruña un gran concierto con la Sinfónica con una versión de referencia de Haydn"La Sinfónica respondió con su maleabilidad y gran calidad de sonido habituales. Graal Théâtre (Teatro del Grial), para violín y orquesta, de Kaija Saariaho (Helsinki, 1952) tuvo una intérprete idónea en Jennifer Koh. La violinista estadounidense de origen coreano imprimió a su parte solista todo el contraste de garra y delicadeza que se puede extraer de un violín. Sus temas sobre el sonido del glockenspiel o la celesta fueron un prodigio de suave transparencia."
Julián Carrillo, El Pais, January 22, 2018
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El cromatismo de Kaija Saariaho regresa a España con Graal Théâtre en un concierto fascinante"Jennifer Koh defendió con agudeza expresiva este "grito del subconsciente" que es Graal Théâtre, que podría revelar esa búsqueda permanente del Grial, o ser una reivindicación contra el silencio enmascarado, la falsa benevolencia de una Europa que había derribado el Muro de Berlín pocos años antes."
Cintia Borges Carreras, Bachtrack, January 20, 2018
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[Feature] Classical violin star Jennifer Koh uses her rising fame to advocate for new music and reaching new listeners"Violinist Jennifer Koh, who was born and raised in the Chicago area, is that rare rising star in classical music with a fluency in both standard repertoire and new music... She’s an artist with an abiding sense of community and has worked diligently to break down the barriers that often separate composers from performers by designing programs and commissioning music with a heightened awareness of those roles."
Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader, January 18, 2018
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Bridge to Beethoven"Violinist Jennifer Koh, a renowned champion of contemporary music, will explore J.S. Bach's famous "Chaconne" from the Violin Partita No.2 in D minor, BWV 1004 through the lens of new music inspired by the work in an evening titled "Bach and Beyond." It will be part of Princeton University Concerts's PUC125: Performances Up Close series, and takes place on Thursday, Feb. 8."
Anthony Bellano, Lawrenceville Patch, January 16, 2018
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"Putting aside the contemporary for a moment, the afternoon showcased early Beethoven, much of it on the scale and style of Mozart. Koh and Wosner performed beautifully together, offering a lean sound that was often consoling and always lovely."
Joseph Dalton, Times Union, January 15, 2018
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In Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 2 with Karina Canellakis and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra"...a dazzling performance... Koh’s full, rich sound was perfect for this rarely heard piece [Szymanowski’s Second Violin Concerto], which boasts a substantial orchestra [Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra under Karina Canellakis] behind the soloist. ... it starts quietly, but builds to bravura passages by the soloist, including a cadenza that is a technical marvel of double stops and combinations of plucked and bowed strings."
Paul Kosidowski, Milwaukee Magazine, November 10, 2017
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"...a riveting performance... Koh brought a clear sense of line and direction to the early part of [Szymanowski's Second Violin Concerto]... She moved to a still, focused stance and laser-like intensity as she began the concerto’s fascinatingly complex cadenza, shifting her energy to some rivetingly nuanced playing and pristinely executed technical passages. Canellakis and the [Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra] ... provided support for Koh’s interpretation, but also [made] compelling music..."
Elaine Schmidt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 10, 2017
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A Living, Breathing Art Form: Guest Violinist Jennifer Koh talks classical music, composition, and the beauty of collaborationKoh definitely does not forget about the audience’s part in the concert experience. “Ninety-nine percent of what I do as a musician is listen — and that’s what the audience is doing,” she said. “It’s a communal experience. It brings you to places you don’t experience every day. There’s a sense of risk, being completely exposed. And people will go with you to that place.”
David Lewellen, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, November 8, 2017
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In the Barber Violin Concerto with Marin Symphony"With a sublime Jennifer Koh as soloist, Music Director Alasdair Neale led a graceful, lucid and deeply affecting performance of Samuel Barber’s 1941 Violin Concerto. Right from the start, with Koh unfolding the opening subject in a warm and confiding manner, an air of sensitive, nuanced responsiveness took hold."
Steven Winn, San Francisco Classical Voice, October 31, 2017
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"Jennifer Koh takes center stage with a violin showcase"
Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, October 25, 2017
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In Lutoslawski's Chain 2 with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra"A dazzling example [of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's blend of contemporary and rarely heard works] came with Jennifer Koh, a violinist who has yet to find a thorny new score she doesn't play with life-or-death zeal. The vehicle, Lutoslawski's "Chain 2" ... gave her that option and she took it with such striking ferocity that her bow's horse hairs ended in shreds."
Donna Perlmutter, LA Observed, October 29, 2017
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In the Barber Violin Concerto with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic"Closing the first half, world-renowned violinist Koh took the stage in a commanding, and viscerally emotional performance of Samuel Barber's "Violin Concerto." Well-known for her interpretations of contemporary music, Koh brought a bold freshness to the beloved neo-romantic masterpiece. With the raw intensity and wild abandon of a rock star, Koh poured her soul into this performance, painting an expansive and colorfully rich panorama of sound."
Lauren Hughes, The Oklahoman, October 26, 2017
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In the Barber Violin Concerto with Marin Symphony"Jennifer Koh takes center stage with a violin showcase"
Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, October 25, 2017
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In Lutoslawski's Chain 2 with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra"Lutoslawski’s frisky de facto violin concerto, “Chain 2,” was inserted into the breach, with Jennifer Koh fearlessly playing the solo violin part. Koh attacked her instrument vehemently, and the piece can easily take such volatility. Lutoslawski himself used to conduct on the Royce stage with his own graceful traffic-cop-like gestures during what he called the ad libitum (controlled free-form playing) passages in his music."
Richard S. Ginell, The Los Angeles Times, October 16, 2017
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In the Barber Violin Concerto with Oklahoma City Philharmonic"For Jennifer Koh, making music is about so much more than just stringing together notes and movements. “What music is about is the connection. It's a form of communication in the most human possible way. I think that's the essence of what music is,” she said. The internationally acclaimed violinist clearly forged a sturdy connection when she made her debut with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic four years ago, since she is returning to play again with the OKC orchestra Saturday night at the Civic Center Music Hall."
Brandy McDonnell, The Oklahoman, October 1, 2017
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In the Sibelius Violin Concerto with Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra"[Koh's] credentials were on full display in this WSO performance. Koh's virtuoso talents were dazzling, her sense of lyricism, delicacy and intensity of heightened and equal quality, and her overall approach of the highest order."
John Shulson, The Virginia Gazette, September 26, 2017
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[Review] Jennifer Koh at Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival"[Marc Neikrug’s String Trio] was given an expert and impassioned performance by the Variation String Trio; violinist Jennifer Koh (several times a soloist with the Vermont Symphony), violist Hsin-Yun Huang and cellist Wilhelmina Smith. That ensemble also performed several of J.S. Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” (arranged by Dimitry Sitkovetsky) with elegance and finesse, providing an influence for the [Augusta Read] Thomas works."
Jim Lowe, Rutland Herald, August 25, 2017
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Critic’s Choice for the 2017-18 season"The [Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach] series includes concerts by the excellent Ehnes Quartet and the fine violinist Jennifer Koh."
Lawrence Budmen & David Fleshler, South Florida Classical Review, August 24, 2017
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[Review] Jennifer Koh, Shai Wosner deliver sizzling SummerFest performance"With pianist Shai Wosner, Koh blazed through three Beethoven violin sonatas, the last of the evening a white-hot performance of the monumental “Kreutzer” sonata. ... [In the Kreutzer] Koh brought a dramatic urgency to her sound, a fire-in-the-belly striving that was overwhelming in Beethoven’s climaxes. In her softer moments, she coyly played with a judicious rubato, teasing with the melody, delaying it ever so slightly."
Christian Hertzog, The San Diego Union-Tribune, August 17, 2017
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Jennifer Koh at Ojai Music Festival"Ojai Music Festival: All That Jazz"
Richard S Ginell, American Record Guide, Sept-Oct 2017 Issue
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Jennifer Koh to perform in two concerts as SummerFest presents all 10 of Beethoven's violin sonatas“The role of a performing musician is having the composer be part of your DNA, whether they are living or have been dead for 200 years,” said Koh, who will participate in two concerts in the La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest next week. “They are the point of discovery."
“Beethoven was not only revolutionary in his musical structure, but also in how he lived his life. He created the mold. Mozart and others of that time were basically servants (of royalty), but Beethoven shifted that. He was independent.”
Beth Wood, The San Diego Union-Tribune, August 10, 2017
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The top 35 female composers in classical music"[Anna Clyne's] music often incorporates electronic components in uneasy partnership with the acoustic instruments, as in “Seamstress,” her violin concerto written for Jennifer Koh, who also premiered her double concerto, “Prince of Clouds,” with Jaime Laredo — both with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where Clyne was composer in residence for five years."
Anne Midgette, The Washington Post, August 4, 2017
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Bridge to Beethoven at La Jolla Music Society SummerFestHailed recently in the Union-Tribune for combining “dazzling virtuosity with deep emotional conviction,” Koh will perform three sonatas with pianist Shai Wosner. They are part of the duo’s acclaimed “Bridge to Beethoven” tour, which also features new compositions...“They were written originally without them, so they work well on their own,” said Koh with a laugh. “Going into the ‘Bridge’ tour, Shai and I rehearsed intensely for about a year and a half. The context at La Jolla is the complete sonatas done by a variety of performers. That’s interesting in itself.”
Beth Wood, The San Diego Union Tribune, July 28, 2017
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Building Curriculum Diversity: Technique, History, and PerformanceViolinist Jennifer Koh speaks with great clarity. She and I are sitting in her living room, the faint sound of traffic a gentle reminder of the city. We’ve been talking about commissioning and programming as advocacy for diversity over the past several days, and I’ve been bouncing some ideas off of her for this series. I’m nervous—as I always am before my writing is published—and her encouragement to speak about these issues is centering. She continues:..."It is our responsibility as artists to advocate for artists and composers who happen to be women or people of color. I feel that we as artists and as an industry need to model and advocate for our entire community. And frankly, diversifying programming is the only way that classical music will survive. If our programming does not reflect the diversity of our society, then we are not serving our community and by extension, we are actively making ourselves irrelevant to society."
Anne Lanzilotti, New Music Box, July 27, 2017
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Jennifer Koh at Aspen Music Festival"At Wednesday evening’s Aspen Philharmonic concert in the Benedict Music Tent, a sparse but attentive audience heard Anna Clyne’s faux-ballet The Seamstress through the patter of raindrops and a few well-timed thunderclaps outside. Nature’s intrusions seemed to enhance the episodic nature of this one-movement violin concerto, played evocatively by Jennifer Koh, for whom it was written and premiered in 2015 by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra....English by birth, Irish by descent, Clyne builds the work around an original Celtic-steeped theme. Over its 22 minutes the beguiling pentatonic language undergoes swoops of glissandos by Koh and a range of embellishments in the orchestra, making for a dreamlike work that’s easy on the ears and prods the imagination. This is a composer I’d want to hear more of."
Harvey Steiman, The Aspen Times, July 21, 2017
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Jennifer Koh at Tanglewood Festival"The highlight of the program was violinist Jennifer Koh’s brilliant account of Trouble, a concerto by Vijay Iyer, a jazz pianist whose first instrument was the violin. The challenging solo part is lyrical and at other times gritty and slashing. Iyer’s orchestration features a melancholic flute melody in the first of the work’s six movements, rhythmic contributions from percussion, and colorations from high (piccolo) to low (muted tuba)."
David M. Rice, Classical Source, July 18, 2017
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"The dynamic Koh owned the difficult score, shifting from one extended technique to the next and filling the spaces with furious bowings, including double-stops that created exotic overtones. Then a cadenza — it is doubtful Iyer called it that, but it was a solo excursion that preceded the coda — brought scales that demanded increasing tempo and volume, growing into a multi-voiced, Bach-like complexity. A tense and loud cadence stuck a pause right at the climax. Koh inserted a gentle phrase, and then it was done."
Keith Powers, Classical Voice America, July 15, 2017
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"Yet to come in the program were a jump forward to a brand-new violin concerto and a lurch backward to a Mozart symphony. The last two items would have been conventional enough were it not for the passion — the compassion — behind the fresh sounds of Vijay Iyer's violin concerto, "Trouble," with Jennifer Koh as soloist...The six short movements range from striking harmonies and strange rattles to angry cries and soaring lyricism, with an extended cadenza of heightened emotion. But at the heart is a moving third-movement threnody for a Chinese-American man killed by thugs near Detroit. Koh was a powerful advocate for music that affirms continuing human values in a time of danger to those values."
Andrew L. Pincus, The Berkshire Eagle, July 14, 2017
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"Trouble" is part of a "Mixtape" project in which Koh, now 40, commissions works to explore the form of the violin concerto and how it can interact with culture and current events. But, she said, the Iyer work is an artistic rather than political statement despite the political implications. And though she regularly performs the standard repertoire as well as new works, she says she doesn't draw hard and fast distinctions between high and low culture, classical and popular.
Andrew L. Pincus, The Berkshire Eagle, July 13, 2017
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Kent Blossom Music Festival: Kulas Guest Artist Jennifer Koh (June 28)"Her Kulas Guest Artist’s program featured four demanding unaccompanied works. Beginning with Bach’s Sonata No. 2 in a, Koh quickly established a “wow” factor with her controlled playing of the opening Grave. Her transitions during the Fuga were beautiful, and she tossed off the many thorny sting crossings with ease in her sweet interpretation of the Andante. Her perfectly balanced harmonic line gave way to a fiery account of the concluding Allegro."
Mike Telin, Cleveland Classical, July 5, 2017
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Vijay Iyer: Taking Stock of the Ojai Festival ExperienceThe festival commenced on Thursday, June 8, with a concert featuring two Iyer concertos performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, conducted by Steven Schick — Emergence, involving Iyer’s trio with bassist Stephan Crump and percussionist Tyshawn Sorey, and Trouble, a world premiere featuring violinist Jennifer Koh..."And then to have Jenny there instead, playing a solo concert, was incredible. That was one of my favorite moments in the festival. She set the bar so high with that set; it was like, oh, this is what we all could be aspiring to. Not that there wasn’t other kinds of excellence at hand, but she’s one of the greats."
Steve Smith, The Log Journal, July 5, 2017
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Kent music festival features Cleveland Orchestra musicians"Members of The Cleveland Orchestra, students from the top music schools in the world, Kulas Guest Artist Jennifer Koh and the Miami String Quartet are all part of the 2017 Kent/Blossom Music Festival...Concert No. 1 takes place on June 28 at 7:30 p.m. Violinist Jennifer Koh, named 2016 Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America Worldwide, will perform Bach's "Sonata for Solo Violin No. 2." and Missy Mazzoli's "Dissolve, O My Heart" among others. Koh made her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age 11."
Kelly Maile, Record Courier, June 22, 2017
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[WQXR] Shared Madness Web Series with Jennifer KohJune 5: LA Opera's Matthew Aucoin
June 6: The National's Bryce Dessner
June 7: Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Samuel Carl Adams
June 8: Talea Ensemble's Anthony Cheung
June 9: 'Breaking the Waves' Composer Missy Mazzoli
June 12: Modern-Day Troubadour Gabriel Kahane
June 13: Multimedia Composer Zosha Di Castri
June 14: Composer-Pianist Timo Andres
June 15: Boston Symphony Orchestra's Eric Nathan
June 16: American Composers Orchestra's Derek Bermel
June 19: Invisible Cities' Christopher Cerrone
June 20: Orchestral Specialist Sean Shepherd
June 21: Composer-Vocalist Lisa Bielawa
June 22: Composer and Former MATA Director James Matheson
June 23: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Composer John Harbison
June 26: wild Up's Christopher Rountree
June 27: IRCAM Innovator Jean-Baptiste Barrière
June 28: Chicago's Augusta Read Thomas
June 29: Unsilent Night's Phil Kline
June 30: Ojai Music Festival Director Vijay Iyer
July 3: Curtis Institute's David Ludwig
July 4: Sante Fe Composer Marc Neikrug
July 5: Transatlantic Composer David Bruce
July 6: Finnish Icon Kaija Saariaho
July 7: Bedroom Community's Daníel Bjarnason
July 10: Grawemeyer Award Winner Andrew Norman
July 11: Composer & Sound Designer Mark Grey
July 12: Bang on a Can's Michael Gordon
July 13: MacArthur Fellow Julia Wolfe
July 14: Pulitzer Prize Winner David Lang
Learn more about Jennifer Koh's "Shared Madness" -
In Vijay Iyer's Trouble for Violin and Chamber Orchestra / The Ojai Music Festival"Written by an Indian-American man and performed by the Korean-American violinist Jennifer Koh, the work’s second movement is dedicated to Chinese-American Vincent Chin, whose murder in 1982 “signaled an ongoing pattern of violent hate crimes against people of color” according to Iyer...In the finale, “Assembly,” Koh broke away in a scalar fit of desperation, signaling an unsupported dream, a faint glimmer of hope, or a glimpse at freedom–she seemed rise out of sea of orchestral cacophony. She thoroughly commanded the piece, fully pushing the possibilities of her instrument, and fully accepting the vulnerability that she had to communicate in the rare role of an antiheroic soloist."
Aaron Wolff, I Care If You Listen, June 22, 2017
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"Over the weekend, we heard Iyer in multiple settings. He showed his ever-deepening attributes as a composer, most notably in the impressive world premiere of his engaging Violin Concerto, “Trouble,” for style-flexible virtuoso Jennifer Koh (whose late-night solo concert “Bach And Beyond,” melding Bach, Berio and others, was a bold highlight of the weekend)."
Josef Woodard, Downbeat, June 16, 2017
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"Then came [Vijay Iyer's] classical violin concerto for soloist Jennifer Koh entitled Trouble, which in its world premiere performance went through several phases before settling into a 5/4-meter folk-like finale that built and built to a satisfying finish."
Richard S. Ginell, Classical Voice North America, June 14, 2017
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"A highlight of the festival’s first evening was the spectacular world premiere of Iyer’s violin concerto for Jennifer Koh. Koh, who was interviewed later during the festival, is a warm, intelligent person, and this was reflected in her performance of Iyer’s violin concerto. The concerto—a genre that traditionally involves a hierarchical relationship between the hero-soloist and the orchestra—was instead reconceived here as a dialogue between equals. The soloist was depicted as a vulnerable figure responding to the musical material of the orchestra. For example, at one point during the concerto, the violinist sustains a single pitch while the orchestra plays the melody. When Koh performed this section, she drew her bow close to the bridge, resulting in a brittle, fragile sound—like a voice on the verge of breaking."
Alexander K. Rothe, Second Inversion, June 14, 2017
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"Thursday night’s concert featured the world premiere of “Trouble,” Iyer’s audacious violin concerto. A thrilling showcase for Jennifer Koh, who has performed other pieces by Iyer in the past, “Trouble” takes its title from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. ... In Koh, who combines dazzling virtuosity and deep emotional conviction, [Iyer] had an exceptional solo voice. ... With further exposure, “Trouble” has the potential to become a showcase for violinists who share Koh’s ability, stamina and appetite for aural adventure."
George Varga, The San Diego Union-Tribune, June 9, 2017
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"The evening began with the American premiere of “Emergence,” in which Iyer’s jazz trio interacts with a chamber ensemble. The world premiere of what you might say is Iyer’s classical violin concerto, “Trouble,” with Jennifer Koh as the dazzling soloist, followed. After intermission, Iyer joined the great West Coast trumpet player Wadada Leo Smith for an intimate, meditative set of very personal, very jazz duos."
Mark Swed, The Los Angeles Times, June 9, 2017
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"Like every year, the festival boasts an impressive lineup. Composer George Lewis, pianist Abrams, woodwind artist Roscoe Mitchell, flutist Nicole Mitchell and violinist Jennifer Koh are just a few of the notables taking part in both free and ticketed programming. On Friday, Abrams, Mitchell, Lewis and Tyshawn Sorey will also take part in a talk about the Chicago-based Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. It’s this caliber of talent and diversity of offerings that brings the Ojai Music Festival international acclaim."
Kit Stolz, Ventura County Reporter, June 7, 2017
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Violinist Jennifer Koh's SHARED MADNESS Web Series Launches"Today, WQXR's Q2 Music premieres violinist Jennifer Koh's new online series, in which she converses with a diverse range of 30 dynamic, leading composers who contributed music to her Shared Madness project."
Classical Music News Desk, Broadway World, June 6, 2017
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Peter Askim and Jennifer Koh / The Next Festival of Emerging Artists"Violinist Jennifer Koh joins the artists of The Next Festival of Emerging Artists in a program of contemporary works for string orchestra. Led by Artistic Director Peter Askim, the performance will include Anna Clyne’s Rest These Hands, written for Ms. Koh, as well as the music of living composers."
Sam Reising, I Care If You Listen Magazine, May 29, 2017
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Bridge to Beethoven"Summer arts preview: Top 10 classical music picks"
"For lovers of piano-violin compositions, the performance of Beethoven’s sonatas should be heavenly....8 p.m. Aug. 15, Beethoven’s Violin Sonatas I, featuring Cho-Liang Lin and Jon Kimura Parker. 8 p.m. Aug. 16, Beethoven’s Violin Sonatas II, featuring Jennifer Koh and Shai Wosner."
Beth Wood, San Diego Union Tribune, May 26, 2017
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"‘Vireo’ brings opera to the small screen, in pieces""The range of performers, too, grew out of the opera’s piecemeal formal structure. In addition to the principal singers, “Vireo” features appearances — generally for just one or two episodes each — by the San Francisco Girls Chorus (of which Bielawa is artistic director), the Kronos Quartet, the new-music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, violinist Jennifer Koh and cellist Joshua Roman."
Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, May 26, 2017
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Violinist Jennifer Koh to Offer Free Concert to Benefit David M. Hunt Library"At Music Mountain on Saturday June 3 at 7 p.m., The Next Festival of Emerging Artists celebrates David M. Hunt Library with a free concert...The concert, featuring renowned Grammy-nominated violinist Jennifer Koh and Conductor Peter Askim leading a string orchestra of young professional musicians, will consist of contemporary works by Anna Clyne and Caroline Shaw, the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Violinist Koh has been called “one of our most thoughtful and intense musicians” by the New York Times. "
Garth Kobal, Hamlet Hub, May 25, 2017
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In the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra"Ms. Koh is an old friend to Princeton audiences; she has performed a number of times with area ensembles. Jean Sibelius’s Violin Concerto in D minor, Opus 47 is an expansive symphonic work, and even after its 1905 revision by the composer, still demands the highest in technical facility from the soloist. Ms. Koh delivered on all aspects of this complex and difficult piece, ranging from a reflective opening against icy orchestral accompaniment to extended fiery and virtuosic sections recurring throughout the concerto."
Nancy Plum, Town Topics, May 17, 2017
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"...the NJSO -- under maestro Xian Zhang -- delivered one of their best concerts of the season, and certainly the most impassioned performance of any one piece [Sibelius' Violin Concerto in D-minor], thanks to their guest soloist, Jennifer Koh.
...Koh's playing throughout [the first movement] showed a range of colors and personalities, from sweet to downright earthy. What's more, she performed in a state of total focus, rarely looking up to the audience, but rather looking down intensely at her instrument, her cropped bob of black hair whipping around her as she played. ... Koh's playing of the high D-natural at the end of the [second movement] was so stirring ... Koh proceeded to dispatch the third movement Allegro (one of the most formidable in the entire violin repertoire) with ease.
...She's a dynamic artist, and credit goes to Zhang and the NJSO -- not just for booking her for these concerts, but for matching her talents. This was a performance that brimmed with passion and musical insight."
James C. Taylor, The Star-Ledger, May 15, 2017
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WSO announces 34th season"The season launches at the Kimball Theatre with the first in a five-part Masterworks Series. Contemporary American composer Adam Schoenberg will start things off with "Bounce," which Hymes called a "fun, appealing and uplifting work." Violinist Jennifer Koh will also perform pieces by Jean Sibelius and Antonín Dvořák."
Seth Birkenmeyer, The Virginia Gazette, May 10, 2017
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5 Questions to Vijay Iyer (2017 Ojai Festival Music Director)"We will present a wide group of people I have collaborated with over the years in multiple musical communities; the idea of genre just doesn’t pertain anymore. We will feature improvisational forms with trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, a new fully-notated violin concerto with Jennifer Koh, a multi-media piece with video by Prashant Bhargava, the Brentano Quartet playing my music plus Kurtag and Mozart, and much more."
Arlene & Larry Dunn, I Care If You Listen Magazine, May 9, 2017
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Live performance by Jennifer Koh's trio, the Variation TrioANDREW NORMAN, MAY 1
Stuttering Bow, Crumbling Fresco If only Andrew Norman could always introduce his own music. The young composer shared his dynamic trio “The Companion Guide to Rome” (2010) with us in a Facebook Live interview and concert featuring the violinist Jennifer Koh’s Variation Trio. “Susanna,” the third movement, depicts a crumbling fresco through a viola’s shakes and stutters — rendered as barcode-like illustrations in the sheet music. The music is evocative in its own right, but listen to it with Mr. Norman’s words in mind: “You can almost not pick out what the details are. It’s just a few little bits of image that are caught in space.”
Joshua Barone, The New York Times, May 5, 2017
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"Listen to violinist Jennifer Koh's trio, the Variation Trio, perform music by the award-winning composer Andrew Norman."
Joshua Barone (host), The New York Times, May 1, 2017
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[Interview] "Chicago soloist: ‘I used to get beat up by other kids’" ("Living the Classical Life" interview) Norman Lebrecht (interview with Zsolt Bognar)"The American violinist Jennifer Koh speaks movingly about growing up as the child of North Korean refugees in rural Illinois. ‘It was not fun to have eggs cracked into my hair every morning on the bus. I used to get beat up by other kids in my school, all the time.’ Jennifer began to understand her parents through reading post-Holocaust literature. ‘My Mom started her life begging for food at the side of the road.’ She speaks with remarkable candour in this new interview with Zsolt Bognar, brought to you exclusively by Slipped Disc."
Norman Lebrecht, Slipped Disc, April 17, 2017
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Anything Can Happen: Jennifer Higdon On Contemporary Music"Rumpus: Great. Would you say that your music is about anything (either other music or something other than music), or is it only about itself, or does it depend on the piece? Higdon: It depends completely on the piece. I have some pieces that have a story line, and others that are literally about the people for whom I wrote the music. My concertos are about the solo instruments featured in those pieces as well as the people who play those solo parts. I wrote a violin concerto for Hilary Hahn and it was very different from the one I wrote for Jennifer Koh. The two pieces are completely different because the musicians approach classical music differently from each other. In both cases, their personalities were embedded in the works I wrote specifically for them."
Joel Hoffman, The Rumpus, April 7, 2017
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Oberlin Conservatory and College Residency"Described by The New York Times as “a hotbed of contemporary-classical players” and a “rural experimental haven,” Oberlin College and Conservatory will exemplify those quotes when it plays host to a week-long residency by Oberlin alum violinist Jennifer Koh and composer, jazz pianist, and writer Vijay Iyer."
Mike Telin, CLEVELANDCLASSICAL.COM, April 3, 2017
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In Steven Mackey's "Beautiful Passing""Thursday night’s performance at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall found Marin Alsop and the BSO operating on all cylinders; same for the guest artist on hand for the Mackey work. ... Violinist Jennifer Koh demonstrated commanding technical control and intensely poetic phrasing, especially in the kinetic cadenza midway through the score. Alsop provided sturdy support and drew taut, expressive work from the BSO."
The Baltimore Sun, April 1, 2017
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[CD Review] Tchaikovsky: Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra"Das Spiel der Solistin Jennifer Koh wurde schon als intensiv und fordernd beschrieben, ihre Virtuosität als überwältigend und ihre unzweifelhafte Technik wurde gelobt. Ihre Fähigkeiten setzt sie zur Darstellung der Musik Tchaikovskys ein. Ihre Darstellung ist technisch beeindruckend und belegt ihre profunde Ausbildung bei Jaime Laredo."
Trans.:
"The playing of the soloist Jennifer Koh has been described as intense and demanding, characterized by overwhelming virtuosity. Her undoubtedly strong technique has been praised. Here her abilities are used for the music of Tchaikovsky. Her performance is technically impressive, reflecting her excellent education under Jaime Laredo."
Remy Franck, Pizzicato, April 1, 2017
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Bridge to Beethoven"From classical to modern with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society
In this sonata, Koh comes across right away as a sensitive player. Sensitivity can be difficult to measure; it can feel overdone or ring false. This is not the case with Koh, who has clearly thought deeply about what Beethoven wished to convey through the violin’s voice."
Donald Hunt, Artblog, March 30, 2017
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Ojai FestivalHere’s Iyer talking about his role and the lineup for the June 8-11 festival, which includes composer Tyshawn Sorey, violinist Jennifer Koh and the International Contemporary Ensemble.
Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Times, March 28, 2017
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"Arts & Leisure Summer Festival Section"
David Allen, The New York Times, March 21, 2017
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[CD Review] Tchaikovsky: Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra"Tornando all’incisione della Cedille, essa è affidata, per quanto riguarda le parti solistiche, a Jennifer Koh. Talento statunitense appena venticinquenne, nata da genitori coreani, la musicista dà vita ad alcune interpretazioni di assoluto valore, il cui apice viene raggiunto quando si confronta con il Concerto per violino."
Trans.:
"Returning on the Cedille Label is Jennifer Koh in the solo parts. [...] born to Korean parents, she gives authoritative interpretations, the apex being in the Violin Concerto."
Marco del Vaglio, Nuova e Nostra, March 25, 2017
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"The American violinist Jennifer Koh interprets these testing pieces with dazzling virtuosity and passionate exuberance, and the Violin Concerto in particular is one of the most exciting renditions I have heard in recent times."
Gerald Fenech, Music & Vision, March 18, 2017
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FeatureMusic in Concert
American Record Guide, March/April 2017 Issue
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In Steven Mackey's "Beautiful Passing""...The 24-minute-long work, written in 2008, is best described as a two demi-concertos connected by a violin cadenza. Composer Steven Mackey's metaphor is his mother's death, which she told her son to tell the family was "a beautiful passing.""
Naples Daily News, February 17, 2017
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Bridge to BeethovenJennifer Koh and Shai Wosner shine in Valley Classical Concert (review)
Clifton Noble Jr., MASS LIVE, February 05, 2017
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Orchestras experiment with innovative ways to reach audiencesCBS This Morning looks at how orchestras are reaching audiences including the reality show "Desperate Measures" at the Miller Theatre at Columbia University.
CBS NEWS, January 7, 2017
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12 inspiring quotes about string playing 2016Strad, December 30, 2016
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[Radio Interview] The State of the Arts, Jeffrey FreymannViolinist Jennifer Koh had a great success at the Tchaikovsky International Competition when she was a teenager, including an award for the best performance of his concerto - but for a long time she'd taken a break from that repertoire. On her most recent CD, she plays the Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra, with the Odense Symphony Orchestra, and the same conductor from the finals of that long-ago competition, Alexander Vedernikov.
Classical KDFC, December 22, 2016
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The 2016 Violinist.com Holiday Gift GuideTchaikovsky: Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra / Jennifer Koh
In 1994, Jennifer Koh won the top prize in the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Though she has performed works of Tchaikovsky countless times live, this her first-ever recording of Tchaikovsky works. Besides the famous ("unplayable") Violin Concerto, it also includes Sérénade Mélancolique, Valse-Scherzo, and Souvenir d'un lieu cher (Glazunov's orchestration).
Laurie Niles, Violinist.com, December 1, 2016
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Variation Trio at 92nd Street YClouds, Churches and Disembodied Auras
Harry Rolnick, Concerto Net, November 28, 2016
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[Radio Interview] Violinist Jennifer KohClassical Classroom, Ep. 150: Sportsing With Tchaikovsky – Jennifer Koh
Helga Davis, WQXR, November 28, 2016
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Jennifer Koh will open the 2017 Ojai Music Festival playing the world premiere of Vijay Iyer’s violin concerto with ICE on June 8.Diversity highlights 2017 Ojai Music Festival lineup
Ventura County Star, November 22, 2016
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[Radio Interviews] Tchaikovsky: Complete Works for Violin and OrchestraClassical Classroom, Ep. 150: Sportsing With Tchaikovsky – Jennifer Koh
Dacia Clay, Houston Public Media, November 21, 2016
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Jennifer Koh & WCPE chat Tchaikovsky
Dan McHugh, WCPE, November 21, 2016
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Jennifer Koh feature in The Strad’s November 2016 issueThe artist speaks to Gavin Dixon about returning to the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and how her approach is informed by collaborations with living composers
Strad, November 2016
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In Esa-Pekka Salonen's Violin Concerto"First, there was the terrific violinist Jennifer Koh in an edgy and fiendishly difficult concerto by the Finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. The sheer power of her performance was something to behold."
Janelle Gelfand, Cincinnati Enquirer, November 19, 2016
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Jennifer Koh will open the 2017 Ojai Music Festival playing the world premiere of Vijay Iyer’s violin concerto with ICE on June 8."Violinist Jennifer Koh (who, it was announced Thursday, will premiere a concerto by Iyer at the Ojai Music Festival in June) did something similar recently with her Bach Project."
Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, November 17, 2016
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CD Review: Tchaikovsky: Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra"Koh plays them to stunning effect, her gorgeous tone radiantly effective in conveying what is always the essence of Tchaikovsky—his melodies...An easy recommendation that might have you trading away some of your other versions."
Steven Ritter, Audiophile Audition, October 19, 2016
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Concert Review: The Memorable Duo"Shai Wosner and Jennifer Koh have been performing together for over a decade. They last appeared in New York City during the 2015-16 season, when they offered a four-concert project “Bridge to Beethoven”, in which all of the Sonatas for Piano and Violin were presented in the context of contemporary work especially commissioned for that occasion..."
Roman Markowicz, Concerto Net, October 15, 2016
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CD Review: Tchaikovsky: Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra"Jennifer Koh plays this music not only with technical proficiency, but feels very “comfortable” in this music. That makes listening to her interpretation of the Russian romantic’s works all the more enjoyable."
John Pitman, All Classical Portland, October 14, 2016
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"The concerto is gorgeously played. Koh isn’t just technically polished, but she has a genuinely beautiful tone, smooth throughout the instrument’s entire range and at all dynamic levels. It retains its sweetness even when muted, as in the Canzonetta, and her double stops are so in tune and so devoid of harshness that they sound like single tones. She doesn’t “attack” the concerto, but plays with a light touch, never stinting the lyricism–but at the same time never turning sticky. This may not be the most “Russian” sounding interpretation, but it is distinctive, songful, exciting (in the finale), and a wholly legitimate, personal view."
David Hurwitz, Classics Today, October 10, 2016
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WBAA "What's New: Violin" program, featuring Jennifer Koh"What's New: Violin" program, featuring Jennifer Koh at 8:16, on WBAA (Indiana NPR affiliate) has been posted to the web
WBAA (Indiana NPR affiliate), aired on October 9, 2016
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In the Mozart Violin Concerto No. 1 with St. Louis Symphony"The soloist for the concerto will be the remarkable Jennifer Koh, who impressed me so much in the solo part of Vivaldi's Four Seasons in 2011. Back then I called her a veritable dynamo of a performer, shaking her head and tearing into the fast movements with ferocity and singing the slow ones. It will be interesting to see what she does with the Mozart."
Chuck Lavazzi, Stage Left , October 5, 2016
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CD Review: Tchaikovsky: Complete Works for Violin and OrchestraTerry Robbins praises Jennifer Koh's "highly satisfying" recent recording, Tchaikovsky: Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra, highlighting her interpretation of the famous Violin Concerto in particular as "a carefully measured and highly lyrical performance" and "a thoughtful, personal statement from a player with impeccable technique."
Terry Robbins, The WholeNote, September 28, 2016
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[Interview] Violinist Jennifer Koh Talks Art and Human ConnectionNPR affiliate KUAF in Arkansas has posted an interview with Jennifer Koh on Of Note with Katy Henriksen
Katy Henriksen, NPR affiliate KUAF in Arkansas , September 22, 2016
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In the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Asheville Symphony"Her performance on Saturday was nothing short of amazing, both in technique and in thoughtful interpretation."
Ted McIrvine, CVNC, September 17, 2016
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CD Review: Tchaikovsky: Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra"It is gratifying to hear that Jennifer Koh is indeed the complete musician we had hoped she was. Cedille's starlet is now their full-fledged star. If she can play the Tchaikovsky like this (and Bach), she can do anything... and probably will."
Bob Neill, Positive Feedback, Issue 87, September 8, 2016
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"Keeping score of autumn's most promising classical recordings"
John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune, September 8, 2016
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[Upcoming Release] Tchaikovsky: Complete Works for Violin and OrchestraJennifer Koh explains why some have called Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D "unplayable."
Stephen Raskauskas, 98.7 WFMT Blogs, August 26, 2016
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LISTEN: Jennifer Koh recently spoke with Dave Beck at Classical KING FM 98.1 about the upcoming release of "Tchaikovsky: Complete Works for Violin & Orchestra."
Dave Beck, CLASSICAL KING FM, August 23, 2016
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FeatureGot a Classic Piece? Here Comes the Sequel.
David Allen, The New York Times, August 19, 2016
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Jennifer performs at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival"Two words kept coming up during a recent phone conversation with the violinist Jennifer Koh: “bridge” and “community.” That inclusive phrasing was surprising since the topic was the pair of recitals she performs at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival on Friday, July 29, and Saturday, July 30, both of which are solitary affairs, made up entirely of works for unaccompanied violin."
James M. Keller, Santa Fe New Mexican, July 29, 2016
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In Esa-Pekka Salonen's Violin Concerto (Colorado Music Festival)“I get to experience different worlds through different composers,” she says. “It could be Tchaikovsky, it could be Bach, it could be Brahms. Or it could be Salonen. I love that about my life as a musician.”
Peter Alexander, Boulder Weekly, June 30, 2016
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"Koh, who has a friendship with Salonen, gave a devoted interpretation, and Zeitouni handled the big orchestra in such a way that virtually all the violin notes were clearly audible. The part is by turns violently aggressive and almost painfully understated, and Koh negotiated all of it with confidence."
Kelly Dean Hansen, Daily Camera, June 25, 2016
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Feature: Jennifer Koh's 'Shared Madness'Jennifer Koh Eloquently Tames 32 Musical Beasts
Daniel Stephen Johnson, Musical America, June 6, 2016
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"...given the opportunity to channel their inner virtuoso, many composers seemed to say, rather, 'I don't play that way'"
Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times, June 1, 2016
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Shared Madness Live Stream
For those of you unable to attend Jennifer's two concerts at the National Sawdust tomorrow (5/24) and next Tuesday (5/31) featuring arco collaborative's Shared Madness project, there is an alternative way to join in the adventure. WQXR's Q2 Music will stream both recitals live via the Interrnet. Click here for the May 24 stream, and here for the May 31 stream.
At New York Phil Biennial, a Thoroughly Modern Mix
Jennifer Smith, The Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2016
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Violinist Jennifer Koh Commissions 32 Works for Solo Violin for ‘Shared Madness’
Stephanie Powell, Strings Magazine, May 24, 2016
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World Premiere of Frederic Rzewski's "Satires" - Library of Congress concerts in honor of Frederic Rzewski's 78th birthdayWashington Post also reviewed the Library of Congress concerts in honor of Frederic Rzewski's 78th birthday:"...the violinist Jennifer Koh, an assured contemporary-music virtuoso, lit into “Notasonata,” which opens with rich, singing lines from the violin, channeling the spirit of Shostakovich that Rzewski evoked in his program notes. Belying its title, the piece offered a spectrum of sonata-like gestures and movements: that singing theme from the violin; a wispy brief engaging scherzo, gentle treads from the piano, like clouds of mud rising beneath the violinist’s forward motion."
Anne Midgette, The Washington Post, May 2, 2016
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"Koh and Rzewski were equal partners in a virtuosic display of hand-in-glove ensemble playing of this challenging and multi-layered score."
Patrick Rucker, The Washington Post, May 1, 2016
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preview for Jennifer Koh's Phoenix Symphony performancePhoenix Symphony concert in Prescott features Bernstein’s Serenade
Jason Wheeler, The Daily Courier, April 15, 2016
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Jennifer Koh's Duke MRI projectScientists Are Learning Volumes From Studying Musicians' Brains
Esther Murimi, Merriam Music, April 8, 2016
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Bridge to Beethoven"it's fair to say that Jennifer Koh has Beethoven on the brain"
Tom Jacobs, Santa Barbara Independent, March 31, 2016
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New York Times lists Jennifer Koh and Shai Wosner's 92Y recital in the Week Ahead section.
Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times, March 30, 2016
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"Koh... maintained an exceptional even keel, her tone pure, not muddied by excessive vibrato. She phrased with elegance. Wosner proved an equally understated and elegant partner. Slow movements were exquisite."
Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, March 28, 2016
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"scintillating account of the feisty Beethoven sonata [No. 12]"
Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, March 22, 2016
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Feature: Studying a Virtuoso Violinist's Brain with MRIJennifer Koh, an artist-in-residence at Duke, has an fMRI to study how music affects the brain
"Laying motionless on her back in the MRI machine while her brain activity was being measured, Koh was asked to imagine playing a series of classical works for solo violin by Paganini and Bach, to listen to them, or to read their musical scores. Overath then studied how Koh’s brain reacted to each."
Eric Ferreri, Duke Today, March 7, 2016
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Bridge to BeethovenThe Laguna Beach Music Festival, for which Ms. Koh is co-artistic director, is happening Feb. 10-14! The festival, which will include a whole range of music from the old to the new, includes excerpts from projects with co-artistic director Shai Wosner: Bach and Beyond and Bridge to Beethoven. “We make music. New Music. Old Music. We play it as long as we love it."
Daniella Walsh, Laguna Beach Independent, February 10, 2016
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In the Bartok Violin Concerto No. 2 with Milwaukee Symphony"Koh is a considerable talent on the violin; her preparation and production of the solo part was exemplary. From quarter-tones to impassioned lines, the complex interplay between Koh and the orchestra was an impressive thing to hear. Koh can produce a lot of sound and play many difficult notes per square inch. She is amazing."
William Barnewitz, Urban Milwaukee , February 8, 2016
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"Koh gave an intense, dramatic performance of the concerto, blending the melodic simplicity of its folk elements with the musical complexity of 12-tone writing that remains stubbornly tonal, and some searing virtuosity. Koh played with absolute conviction, vivid musical arcs and a constant drive that swept the listener through the piece. De Waart and the orchestra played as though continuing Koh's thoughts and intentions, telling their part of the musical story..."
Elaine Schmidt, Journal Sentinel , February 6, 2016
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Interview"I really believe that we as musicians have the potential to change lives," she said in a recent interview. "Music gives you an opportunity to experience things you don't experience on a daily basis...It gives us a visceral, emotional experience and it teaches us empathy — that it's possible to understand something outside of our daily existence."
Elaine Schmidt, Journal Sentinel , January 29, 2016
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In Anna Clyne's concerto The Seamstress with the BBC Symphony Orchestra"Throughout, Koh was an energetic soloist, by turns soulful and radiant, always supported by alert BBC players under Oramo’s invigorating direction."
David Truslove, Bachtrack , January 18, 2016
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"Here, accompanied by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under its Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo, the American violinist played with sure intonation, sweet but strong tone, rhythmic assurance and absolute commitment, combining effortless charm and technical virtuosity. The concerto is less a dramatic ‘argument’ between soloist and orchestra and more a melodic partnership, and Oramo guided the BBCSO sensitively through the various conversational episodes, while the orchestra retreated sensitively during Koh’s fiery bravura moments."
Claire Seymour, Seen and Heard International , January 17, 2016
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Interview: Jennifer Koh's 'Bridge to Beethoven'Violinist Jennifer Koh engages Beethoven via modern music
David Weininger, The Boston Globe, November 17, 2015
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Previews: Nielsen Violin Concerto with Buffalo Philharmonic“Jennifer Koh, the violinist soloing with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra on Nov. 20 and 21, is quite the musician. She gave recital in Buffalo with piano five years ago, and people who were there still remember her virtuosity.”
By Mary Kunz Goldman, The Buffalo News, November 17, 2015
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“Koh’s performance of the Nielsen is only the second time it has appeared in the BPO’s repertoire, and it has been over two decades since it was last heard.”
By Douglas Levy, The Public, November 17, 2015
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Bridge to Beethoven‘Bridge to Beethoven’ Review: Where Old Meets New
By Barbara Jepson, The Wall Street Journal, November 16, 2015
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"Once again Koh and Wosner performed as a perfectly matched pair when it came to presenting that expressiveness to the attentive listener. This was an evening in which it seemed as if every detail was a precious gem unto itself, but it was also one in which the spirit of Beethoven’s inventiveness provided a unifying force. Both Koh and Wosner clearly knew how to work both in-the-small and in-the-large at the same time, resulting in a presentation of Beethoven’s early chamber music at its most stimulating."
By Stephen Smoliar, San Francisco Examiner, November 8, 2015
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"Koh, who made her San Francisco Performances debut in 2003, is simply remarkable--an artist who combines a questing spirit with tonal refinement and a kind of fearless virtuosity. Anyone who witnessed her extended violin solo in Philip Glass' 'Einstein on the Beach' at Cal Performances a few years back can attest to her brilliance. Yet Wosner, making his first San Francisco Performances appearance on this program, was every bit her match. Together, these two musicians traversed the evening's works with superb style and insight."
By Georgia Rowe, San Jose Mercury News, November 5, 2015
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"Koh and Wosner unveil a Beethoven journey"
Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, November 5, 2015
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Feature: Violinist Jennifer Koh’s Innovative Projects Connect Masterworks of the Past with the PresentKoh explores the gap between classical and contemporary with her latest 'Bridge to Beethoven' project
Strings Magazine, December 2015 issue
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Interview: Jennifer Koh on Building a 'Bridge to Beethoven'A preview article and interview with Jenny on Bridge to Beethoven
Lou Fancher, San Francisco Chronicle, November 3, 2015
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Szymanowski No. 1 with Minnesota Symphony“Koh gave [Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Minnesota Orchestra] an extraordinarily confident interpretation. Its shifting moods were negotiated brilliantly, her cries of defiance above the ensemble assertive and searing. The climax was a cadenza that began with tense tones, eerie and haunted, but built into a flurry of aggressively bowed double stops. And Koh is an engagingly demonstrative player who pours plenty of physicality into her performances.”
By Rob Hubbard, Pioneer Press, October 23, 2015
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New York Philharmonic Announces Next Biennial ProgramThe program will include two performances by Ms. Koh premiering her 'Shared Madness' project.
By Michael Cooper,The New York Times, October 21, 2015
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Jennifer Koh is Musical America’s 2016 Instrumentalist of the YearBy Susan Elliott,Musical America, October 14, 2015
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In Anna Clyne's The Seamstress with the Princeton Symphony OrchestraReview: Anna Clyne piece startles in Princeton
By David Patrick Stearns,philly.com, September 29, 2015
Read the Review… - Preview article about Jennifer's upcoming performance of Anna Clyne's "The Seamstress" with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra"don't miss your chance to see Jennifer's "dazzling virtuosity" in action."
By Ross Amico, nj.com, September 23, 2015
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Preview: Bridge to Beethoven I"Jennifer Koh is one of the most skilled and satisfying violinists in classical music—in part because of the way she bridges it with modern works."
Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader, Fall 2015
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Koh’s Back, With Bach & Beyond, Part 2"There’s a feeling of power in reserve about Jennifer Koh’s playing..."
Peter Quantrill, The Strad, August 22, 2015
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Artistic Quality: 9; Sound Quality: 10
"When Jennifer Koh plays, people listen. Or they should, especially when she offers a new program of solo works."
David Vernier, Classics Today, June 2015
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In Anna Clyne's new piece, "The Seamstress"'Seamstress' a bit threadbare in CSO premiere
John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune, May 29, 2015
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The New York Times just posted their "Classical Playlist" with Jenny's Bach and Beyond Part 2 listed as one of 'what we've been listening to'"one of our most thoughtful and intense musicians”
Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times, May 6, 2015
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Jennifer Koh Releases Bach & Beyond Part IIStephanie Powell, Strings Magazine, May 5, 2015
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Feature: The Strad May 2015 issueA review of Jenny's January concert at the 92nd Street Y
The Strad, May 2015 issue
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Review: “Bridge to Beethoven Part I”"one of our most thoughtful and intense musicians”
Jennifer Koh and Pianist Shai Wosner at Hahn Hall
Joseph Miller, Santa Barbara Independent, April 28, 2015
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Review of recital given at "Oberlin Artist Recital Series" April 12, 2015"There are many reasons to admire violinist Jennifer Koh. She possesses rock-solid technique and rhythm, impeccable intonation, and a tonal palette worthy of a master-painter. And her musical decisions are always intelligent and thoughtful. All of these attributes were on display..."
Mike Telin, Cleveland Classical, April 27, 2015
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Bridge to BeethovenJennifer Koh and Shai Wosner performing Bridge to Beethoven: Finding Identity Through Music
The Daily Nexus , April 22, 2015
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SF Performances announced their 2015-16 season including Bridge to Beethoven, and the San Francisco Chronicle ran the news
Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, April 20, 2015
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Jennifer was interviewed for a New York Times profile on Anna Clyne that appeared in Sunday's Arts & Leisure sectionRead the Interview…
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Bach and Beyond Part III"With her natural charm, superior powers of communication and technical brilliance, Jennifer Koh might have contented herself with a career of rapturously received recital and orchestral dates. But the Chicago-born violinist is a seeker, an adventurer, an artist who endeavours to find and reveal relationships, and to see the western musical heritage in an evolving, unbroken continuum."
Allan Ulrich, Financial Times, March 20, 2015
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"Koh’s performance was a marvel — tender, strong-limbed and full of tonal variety."
Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, March 16, 2015
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Scelsi “Anahit” with Dudamel and LA Philharmonic"Koh made every note mesmerizing."
Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times , March 11, 2015
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Bach and Beyond Part IIICompleting her "indispensable" Bach and Beyond series at the 92nd Street Y on Saturday, Jennifer Koh performed Bach's Sonatas Nos. 2 & 3, the world premiere of John Harbison's 'For Violin Alone', and Berio's 'Sequenza VIII', in which "with bow hairs flying everywhere, Ms. Koh was at her most ruthlessly committed and distinct."
David Allen, The New York Times, February 1, 2015
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"Violin soloist Koh takes audience on an exciting journey"
Garaud MacTaggart, Buffalo News, January 29, 2015
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Jennifer Koh 'Two x Four' album with Jaime Laredo was picked for one of Fanfare (magazine)'s 2014 holiday wish lists!"I would take this to my desert island so that I could hear both the traditional Bach that I have always loved and this fascinating new music."
Maria Nockin, Fanfare Magazine, November 2014
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In the Salonen Violin Concerto with the Seattle Symphony"Koh commanded the full technical arsenal required for Salonen’s expressive purposes: unrelenting, rapid-fire arpeggiations in the first movement, ethereal sustained notes (especially at the highest extreme of the instrument’s register), vertiginous interval leaps. Most impressive of all was Koh’s use of phrasing and articulation, from aggressively steely attacks to the whitest, most featherweight tones."
Thomas May, Bachtrack , November 7, 2014
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In the Sibelius Violin Concerto with Waco Symphony"When violinist Jennifer Koh stands on stage, she often has her feet firmly planted in the past and the future, linking the two with the music she plays in the present."
Carl Hoover, Waco Tribune-Herald , November 6, 2014
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Jenny's performance of Bach and a new work by Anna Clyne with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra"Koh’s playing was utterly smooth and even. … She found the real emotional core of Bach, and so did the orchestra.”
David Bratman, San Francisco Classical Voice , November 5, 2014
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In the Sibelius Violin Concerto with Wichita Falls Symphony"Jennifer Koh was stunning in her performance, both with the symphony and through the solo parts. She is dynamic to watch as she moves with the music, showing emotion and a deep love of music."
Claire Kowalick, Times Record News , October 6, 2014
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In the Sibelius Violin Concerto with Berkeley Symphony"Jennifer Koh made the evening memorable ... Koh’s reading of the Sibelius Violin Concerto traded alluring tone for gritty attacks and building of tension, starting with a first movement cadenza that evoked an eternally frozen landscape barely warmed by the winter sun. Carneiro felt the spirit."
Allan Ulrich, The Financial Times , October 5, 2014
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"It's a little early for the "Best of 2014" lists, but don't be surprised if Jennifer Koh's appearance in Thursday's season-opening concert by the Berkeley Symphony goes down as one of the year's finest."
Georgia Rowe, San Jose Mercury News , October 3, 2014
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In the Sibelius Violin Concerto with Sioux City Symphony"Letting the audience into her special world, she owned every moment of the piece, bouncing with its first section, battling with its second and embracing its third."
"Technically brilliant, the young violinist also has great stage presence and an affinity for the music that immediately resonates."
Bruce Miller, Sioux City Journal , September 27, 2014
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Feature: Music is a way of living for violinist Jennifer Koh“I’m not one of those people that knew they would make a career in music ... I didn’t really know what that meant. I didn’t come from a background from where people were musicians as a career.” - Jennifer Koh
Ally Karsyn, Sioux City Journal , September 26, 2014
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CD Review: 2 x 4"Pride, gratitude and tenderness are the key ingredients in the student-teacher dynamic uniting the violinist Jennifer Koh and her mentor Jaime Laredo and they make for a richly satisfying listening experience on this disc of double concertos."
Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times, September 17, 2014
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'Two x Four' receives a 10/10 for both artistic and sound quality from Classics Today!
David Vernier, Classics Today, August 25, 2014
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"a virtuoso in her own right and the impetus for the recording’s imaginative programming"
Roy C. Dicks, News & Observer, June 28, 2014
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"The solo performers are two consummate artists, so you would expect nothing from them but the very best ... The violinists shine in their individual right, of course, but their sympathetic communication in Bach (and, indeed, in all the pieces presented here) is evident in every passage. Their partnership is energetic, felicitous, and expressive, admirably and pleasurably so."
John J. Puccio, Classical Candor, June 25, 2014
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Feature: Video Series "Off Stage On Record"Jennifer Koh’s video diary: How things really are for a concert violinist
Colorado Public Radio , June 1, 2014
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CD Review: 2 x 4"What could be more conventional than starting a mixed classical disc with Bach‘s Concerto for Two Violins. Perhaps predictably, but what better way to clearly hear the Koh and Laredo sound in their mastery of the world of Bach."
ConcertoNet.com, May 30, 2014
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"Jennifer Koh extends her hegemony in violin matters contemporary by teaming with mentor Jaime Laredo in homage of the two-violin concerto ensemble."
Audiophile Audition, May 26, 2014
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Feature: Strings Magazine June 2014 issueJenny's cover profile in the Strings Magazine June 2014 issue is out! Get your hands on a copy to read about Jenny and her new "unconventional" projects
Strings Magazine, June 2014 issue
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Review: Jennifer Koh at Hahn HallThe Santa Barbara Independent reviewed her Bach & Beyond III recital
Joseph Miller, Santa Barbara Independent, April 29, 2014
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Feature: "Bach and Beyond""[#Bach & Beyond has] been hailed as brilliantly insightful programming, while the demanding and daring performances showcase the dynamic, even athletic, fiddling of an artist at the top of her game."
Joseph Miller, Santa Barbara Independent, April 17, 2014
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Interview: Jennifer Koh on Interlochen Center for the Arts's Crescendo magazine“What I love most about concerts, both going and performing, is that they offer the absolute perfect time to be present in the moment collectively. It is a beautiful moment when it happens. That’s what I live for up on that stage.” Crescendo Issue: April 2014
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LA Times review of Jennifer Koh's 'Two x Four' performance"Koh has become one of the most impressive and expressive violinists on the scene, and she has developed a rare stage presence being honed by director Robert Wilson."
Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, March 24, 2014
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Review: Bach and Saariaho at Miller TheatreJenny is "the fiddler for the job. She stood with feet firmly planted, exhibiting musculature and finesse for the demanding quarter hour."
Kurt Gottschalk, I CARE IF YOU LISTEN, February 26, 2014
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"...played with a deeply felt intensity and introspection. After such transcendence, the mundane act of clapping almost seemed inappropriate."
Vivien Schweitzer, The New York Times, February 07, 2014
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"Koh played Bach’s Partita [No. 2 in D minor] with deep intelligence and musical expression. Her sound hits the sweet spot of size and dryness."
George Grella, New York Classical Review, February 07, 2014
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Feature: "Bach and Beyond" at Miller Theatre"A Birthday Concerto, 'Billy Budd' and Going Beyond Bach"
Corinne Ramey, The Wall Street Journal, February 2, 2014
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CD Review: SIGNS, GAMES + MESSAGES"A fascinating, satisfying programme, bring together three composers whose work is rooted in their local cultures, absorbed to form highly personal styles."
Gramophone, February 2014
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"Bookended by impossibly beautiful, occasionally kittenish performances of Janáček's Violin Sonata and Bartók's Violin Sonata, No. 1, violinist Jennifer Koh and pianist Shai Wosner lay out 25 spellbinding minutes of music for violin and piano by Gyorgy Kurtág"
Strings Magazine, February 2014
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Berg's Violin Concerto for Violin and Orchestra with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra"Violinist Jennifer Koh delivered an emotionally searing, uncluttered performance of the concerto. She gave a commanding performance, playing with absolute clarity and control as she conveyed the aching grief at the heart of the piece."
Elaine Schmidt, Journal Sentinel, January 18, 2014
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CD Review: SIGNS, GAMES + MESSAGES"Jennifer Koh and Shai Wosner explore the wages of folk music when it meets, headlong, the experimental genius of three Slavic composers."
Audiophile Audition, December 18, 2013
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"A standout new recording."
The New York Times, November 6, 2013
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Interview"Violinist Jennifer Koh to make Oklahoma City Philharmonic debut Saturday"
Brandy McDonnell, NewsOK, October 13, 2013
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In Philip Glass' Einstein on the Beach"Review: Time and space are one in thrilling 'Einstein on the Beach' "
Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, October 13, 2013
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"The Minds Behind 'Einstein On The Beach' Talk Shop"
Arun Rath, NPR, October 12, 2013
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Interview: "Einstein on the Beach""Violinist Jennifer Koh Talks About Playing Einstein In Philip Glass Opera"
Lyle Zimskind, LAist, October 10, 2013
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CD Review: Bach and Beyond Part I"Anything goes with Bach, and recent recordings play that up: Critic's Notebook: The Bach effect is in full force on classical and crossover charts, including recordings by mandolinist Chris Thile, a Keith Jarrett-Michelle Makarski matchup and Jennifer Koh."
Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, October 10, 2013
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Press: "Einstein on the Beach""'Einstein on the Beach' opera that inspired Marc Jacobs hits L.A."
Booth Moore, Los Angeles Times, October 7, 2013
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Feature: "Einstein on the Beach""Violinist Jennifer Koh turns physicist for 'Einstein on the Beach' "
David Ng, Los Angeles Times, October 5, 2013
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Jennifer Koh with L.A. Phil at the Bowl"Music review: Botstein has last laugh with L.A. Phil at the Bowl' "
Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, August 28, 2013
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Recital at the Library of Congress with Reiko Uchida"At Atlas, Jennifer Koh offers an unforgettable whirlwind of sound"
Stephen Brookes, The Washington Post, May 24, 2013
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Interview"Classical Violinist Jennifer Koh Finds Her Own Path to Music with Meaning"
Jeff Tompkins, Asia Society, May 23, 2013
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Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 2 with the Oregon Symphony"Koh tremendous with Bartók – Oregon
Symphony finishes season on an upswing"
James Bash, Oregon Music News, May 22, 2013
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"Music review: Oregon Symphony seasons ends with a mesmerizing violin performance"
James McQuillen, The Oregonian, May 19, 2013
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Bach and Beyond Part II"Review: Jennifer Koh shows her own genius with Bach program"
Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, April 25, 2013
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Interview: Bach and Beyond Part II at Hahn Hall"UCSB Arts & Lectures Presents Koh in Bach and Beyond Part II at Hahn Hall"
Charles Donelan, Santa Barbara Independent, April 25, 2013
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CD Review: Bach and Beyond Part I"Koh’s Captivating Craft," Artistic Quality: 10 / Sound Quality: 10
David Vernier, classicstoday.com, April 2013
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Two x Four"Music Review: VSO challenges and rewards"
Jim Lowe, Rutland Herald, March 12, 2013
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Bach and Beyond Part II"Return of the Bach: Jennifer Koh, “Bach and Beyond Part 2,” Mansion at Strathmore"
DMV Classical, February 28, 2013
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Feature: Jenny talks about the Strathmore recital, Two X Four at the Kennedy Center, and the Cedille recording."Jennifer Koh's romance with Bach ... and Beyond"
Emily Cary, Washington Examiner, February 25, 2013
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Bach and Beyond Part II"Violinist Jennifer Koh Captivates Town Hall with Bach and Beyond"
Dana Wen, The SunBreak, February 14, 2013
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Lutoslawski's "Chain 2" with New York Philharmonic"A Conductor’s Adventurous and Reserved Sides:
Lorin Maazel and New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall"
Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, January 25, 2013
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[WQXR Features] Café Concert: Jennifer KohJennifer Koh performs in The Greene Space at WQXR"
WQXR, January 24, 2013
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Critics' pick: The Five Best Events This WeekLutoslawski's "Chain 2" with New York Philharmonic
Critics' pick, Time Out New York, January 23, 2013
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Interview: Jennifer Koh's New York Times Profile"A Fast Start, But No Race To the Future"
Steve Smith, The New York Times, January 20, 2013
[A version of this article appeared in print on January 20, 2013, on page AR12 of the New York edition.]
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Interview: BBC Music Magazine"Getting technical with Jennifer Koh"
BBC Music Magazine, January 17, 2013
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Feature: Bach and Beyond, Part 1; Jennifer Koh, violin (Cedille)"Koh arrives at Bach with a studied determination and vibrant affectation"
Steven Ritter, Audiophile Audition, December 31, 2012
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Best of Classical 2012: Bach and Beyond, Part 1; Jennifer Koh, violin (Cedille)
Ronni Reich/The Star-Ledger, nj.com, December 18, 2012
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Clyne's Double Violin Concerto with Jaime Laredo and CSO"CSO goes Bach to the future with luminous new work at its center"
John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune, December 14, 2012
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Feature: Bach and Beyond, Part 1; Jennifer Koh, violin (Cedille)The review appears on Page 5 of the Chicago Tribune "Arts + Entertainment" section
John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune, December 11, 2012
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Bach and Beyond Part II"Jennifer Koh, violin @ EMPAC, 11/30/12"
Joseph Dalton, timesunion.com, November 30, 2012
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Bach and Beyond Part I"‘Bach and Beyond’: Jennifer Koh’s unsentimental guide to the composer’s legacy"
Joan Reinthaler, The Washington Post, November 15, 2012
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Two x Four project"Strings excel in IRIS performance in Germantown"
Jon W. Sparks, The Commercial Appeal, November 4, 2012
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"Violinists Jaime Laredo, Jennifer Koh celebrate connections with IRIS orchestra at GPAC"
Jon W. Sparks, Go Memphis, November 1, 2012
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In Philip Glass' Einstein on the Beach (Cal Performances)"New twists in 'Einstein on Beach' revival"
Joshua Kosman, SFGate, October 25, 2012
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In the Sibelius Violin Concerto with Winston-Salem Symphony"Symphony opens season with a brassy bang"
Ken Keuffel, Winston-Salem: Relish, September 22, 2012
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In Philip Glass' Einstein on the Beach (BAM)"Violinist on the Beach: Jennifer Koh is touring in a revival of the Philip Glass masterwork."
Collin Eatock, Listen: Life with Classical Music Magazine, Fall 2012
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"Time Travel With Einstein: Glass’s Opera Returns to the Stage"
Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, September 16, 2012
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All Bach Recital at Castleton Festival"Violinist Jennifer Koh's outstanding J.S. Bach"
Terry Ponick, The Washington Times, July 25, 2012
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Rockport Music Festival"Violinist imbues Bach with universe of harmony"
Jeffrey Gantz, The Boston Globe, July 17, 2012
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"Probing Emotional Depths of Bach’s Sei Solo"
Leon Golub, The Boston Musical Intelligencer, July 15, 2012
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In Bartók's Second Violin Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony"BBCSSO/Pintscher – review City Halls, Glasgow"
Kate Molleson, guardian.co.uk, June 27, 2012
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Feature"Bridging past and present DSO's guest violinist will perform with her Curtis music instructor"
Margie Fishman, The News Journal, May 18, 2012
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In the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Seattle Symphony"A Thrilling Brahms Violin Concerto at the Seattle Symphony"
Bernard Jacobson, Seen and Heard International, March 27, 2012
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Feature"Violinist Jennifer Koh bridges past and present"
Tom Keogh, The Seattle Times, March 16, 2012
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Feature"American Mavericks Festival: Jennifer Koh"
Time Out New York, March 11, 2012
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In the Brahms Violin Concerto with Omaha Symphony"Violinist Koh soars with symphony"
Kim Carpenter, The Omaha World-Herald, March 3, 2012
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In Saariaho's "Graal Theatre" Violin Concerto"Festival gala calls for 'open ears' Trio of varied works launches series"
Gwenda Nemerofsky, Winnipeg Free Press, January 30, 2012
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In Philip Glass' Einstein On The Beach"Some reflections on a rare opportunity to see groundbreaking 'Einstein on the Beach' "
Susan Isaacs Nisbett, AnnArbor.com, January 23, 2012
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In Vivaldi's Four Seasons with Ward Stare and the St. Louis Symphony"Concert review: Music of the spheres and sounds of the seasons with Jennifer Koh, Ward Stare, and the St. Louis Symphony at Powell Hall December 2 through 4"
Chuck Lavazzi, KDHX Community Media, December 03, 2011
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Jennifer Koh at the American Academy of Arts and Letters: Bach’s Unaccompanied Sonatas and Partitas in a single marathon concert presented by the Miller Theater"Scaling Bach’s Mountains With Stamina and Skill"
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, October 25, 2011
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Feature"When Bach Laid Bare His Own Soul"
Vivien Schweitzer, The New York Times, October 21, 2011
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Feature"Immersing in Bach's Solo Violin Works"
Lizzie Simon, The Wall Street Journal, October 17, 2011
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Jennifer's "Bach and Beyond" recital at Lennoxlove House, Haddington, UK"Bach and Beyond"
Alan Coady, Bachtrack, September 23, 2011
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"Review: Modern composers keep looking bach Bach at Lennoxlove House, Haddington ***** "
Carol Main, Edinburgh News, September 22, 2011
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In Max Bruch’s first violin concerto in G minor with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra"BSO begin season with guest Koh Renowned violinist electrifies Collins Center crowd with emotional performance"
Kaylie Reese, The Maine Campus, September 11, 2011
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"Violinist Koh, BSO give dazzling performance in opening concert"
Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News, September 11, 2011
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Feature"Violinist Koh brings her bold bow to BSO"
Emily Burnham, Bangor Daily News, September 7, 2011
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In recital with Shai Wosner"Interpreting the Contrasts of Mozart"
Vivien Schweitzer, The New York Times, August 25, 2011
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In Britten’s Violin Concerto with the Grant Park Symphony and Carlos Kalmar"Violinist Koh strikes sparks with Kalmar, Grant Park Orchestra"
Wynne Delacoma, Chicago Classical Review, August 4, 2011
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In Lorin Maazel’s “Music for Violin and Orchestra”"Castleton Festival performances Sunday demonstrate skill, intensity"
Cecelia Porter, The Washington Post, July 18, 2011
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In the U.S. premiere of Augusta Read Thomas' Violin Concerto no. 3 with the National Symphony Orchestra"Taking the measure of National Symphony Orchestra music director Christoph Eschenbach"
Tim Smith, The Baltimore Sun, June 13, 2011
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"Balls in the Air: National Symphony Orchestra, June 9, 2011"
DMVclassical, June 12, 2011
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"Music review: ‘Juggler in Paradise’ at NSO"
Anne Midgette, The Washington Post, June 10, 2011
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Feature"Koh and the NSO introduce the 'Juggler'"
Marie Gullard, The Washington Examiner, June 9, 2011
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In the world premiere of Missy Mazzoli's "Dissolve, oh my heart," and Steven Mackey's "Four Iconoclastic Episodes" with the L.A. Philharmonic led by John Adams"Music review: John Adams conducts premieres by emerging Brooklyn composers"
Mark Swed, The Los Angeles Times, May 25, 2011
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Jennifer's "Bach and Beyond" recital at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall"Jennifer Koh at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall Solo Violinist Performed with Video Art on Tuesday, May 17 "
Charles Donelan, Santa Barbara Independent, May 23, 2011
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In the music of finnish composer Magnus Lindberg"Thank You. Seriously. Thank You."
Matthew Cmiel, San Francisco Classical Voice, May 15, 2011
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"Two by a Finnish Composer, and Variations Inspired by a Birthday"
Steve Smith, The New York Times, May 11, 2011
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In Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto with the Buffalo Philharmonic"Dynamic contrasts carry concert from Barber to Billy the Kid "
Mary Kunz Goldman, The Buffalo News, April 17, 2011
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Intervew"Violinist Jennifer Koh talks art, performance"
Abby Gerdes, The Daily Tar Heel, April 13 & 18, 2011
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In Unsuk Chin’s Violin Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra"Total Immersion: Unsuk Chin, Barbican, review Korean composer Unsuk Chin's music evokes a magical, fantasy world. Rating: * * * * "
Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph, April 11, 2011
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Feature"Koh Explores Old & New Solo Works in Her Own Distinct Way"
Corinne Ramey, Strings Magazine, March 30, 2011
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In the Dvorák Violin Concerto with Princeton Symphony Orchestra"Princeton Symphony Orchestra with violinist Jennifer Koh"
Eugene Chan, Examiner.com, March 27, 2011
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In "Stories of Korea" with the Los Angeles Master Chorale"Music review: L.A. Master Chorale sings 'Stories from Korea'"
The Los Angeles Times, March 7, 2011
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Feature"Poignant Songs for a People Divided"
Stuart Isacoff, The Wall Street Journal, March 3, 2011
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Feature"Mark Grey's 'Mugunghwa' traces a Korean journey"
Rick Schultz, The Los Angeles Times, February 27, 2011
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In Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto and Béla Bartok’s Rhapsody No. 1 with the Oregon Symphony"Koh dazzles in performances of Barber and Bartok with the Oregon Symphony"
James Bash, Oregon Music News, February 21, 2011
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In recital with Shai Wosner"Violinist Jennifer Koh shows range"
Joseph Dalton, The Times Union, February 7, 2011
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Jennifer's "Bach and Beyond" recital at the 92nd Street Y"A Violinist Layers Bach With Relative Newcomers"
Vivien Schweitzer, The New York Times, January 31, 2011
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Feature"A Violinist on a Solo Mission: Koh Takes On the Challenge of Proving the Instrument Can Hold Center Stage"
Stuart Isacoff, The Wall Street Journal, January 29, 2011
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Feature"Violinist and pianist in tune for sonatas"
Joe Barron, The Times Herald, January 28, 2011
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"Four Seasons" a triumph for violinist Jennifer Koh"Four Seasons" a triumph for violinist Jennifer Koh"
Kyle MacMillan, The Denver Post, January 15, 2011
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Jennifer with The New York String Orchestra and pianist Benjamin Hochman performed at the annual Carnegie Hall Christmas Eve concert"Proud Parents With Cameras, Clicking Away"
Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, December 26, 2010
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Jennifer's "Bach and Beyond" recital at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor has been chosen as one of the top classical music performances of the year in Detroit"Jennifer Koh, violin. University Musical Society"
Mark Stryker, Detroit Free Press, December 26, 2010
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Jennifer's recording of Schumann Sonatas is a NY Times pick for favorite Schumann recordings!"Getting to Know Schumann Again, With Some Favorites"
Vivien Schweitzer, The New York Times, December 16, 2010
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In the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with San Juan Symphony"Silver strings A quarter century ago, San Juan Symphony tuned in"
Judith Reynolds, The Durango Herald, November 22, 2010
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Feature"Violinist Jennifer Koh plays at the Arsht with Moscow State Symphony Orchestra"
Greg Stepanich, Miami Herald, November 14, 2010
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In the Bruch Violin Concerto with Moscow State Symphony"Music review: Moscow State Symphony is astonishing in Cerritos"
Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, October 31, 2010
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In the Beethoven Violin Concerto and John Adams' Violin Concerto with Berkeley Symphony"Brilliant violinist does double duty at Berkeley Symphony season opener"
Richard Scheinin, mercurynews.com, September 24, 2010
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Interview"Jennifer Koh to open Berkeley Symphony season"
Joshua Kosman, Chronicle Music Critic, September 23, 2010
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Interview"Jennifer Koh: Connecting Composers Across Centuries"
Jeff Kaliss, San Francisco Classical Voice, September 20, 2010
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In the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra"The Young Person's Guide"
Chia Han Leon, The Straits Times, August 2, 2010
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Feature"SSO Concert "Young Person’s Guide" 30 Jul 2010"
flyinginkpot.com, July 30, 2010
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In Stravinsky’s 1918 Soldier’s Tale"Don Quixote, puppets, soldiers invade Castleton finale"
Terry Ponick, The Washington Times, July 25, 2010
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Interview"Violinist.com interview with Jennifer Koh"
Laurie Niles, July 1, 2010
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In Szymanowski's First Violin Concerto with the National Symphony Orchestra"NSO and Valcuha come through loud and soft an clear"
Anne Midgette, The Washington Post, June 18, 2010
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In recital with Shai Wosner"Violinist and pianist form team to produce some beautiful music"
Mary Kunz Goldman, The Buffalo News, May 19, 2010
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In the Brahms Violin Concerto with the New Jersey Symphony"A Conductor Visits Before Moving In"
Steve Smith, The New York Times, April 23, 2010
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In the Barber Violin Concerto with the Alabama Symphony"Jennifer Koh sparks ASO with gripping Barber concerto"
Michael Huebner, The Birmingham News, March 12, 2010
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It's All About Jennifer Koh!"Review of ASO's Pictures At an Exhibition"
Janet Elizabeth, pavomag.com, March 13, 2010
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In recital at San Francisco Performances"Stage brims with Koh's vitality"
Joshua Kosman, Chronicle Music Critic, SFGate, March 11, 2010
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Feature"Jennifer Koh's solitary journey"
Stephen Smoliar, SF Classical Music Examiner, Examiner.com, March 10, 2010
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Feature"Going It Alone"
Michelle Dulak Thomson, San Francisco Classical Voice, March 9, 2010
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In John Adams' Violin Concerto with the New World Symphony"New World Symphony's performance offers a blissful escape"
David Fleshler, Miami Herald, February 6, 2010
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Feature"Jennifer Koh mashes up Bach and newer music in a St. Paul recital with cellist Anssi Karttunen"
Star Tribune, January 23, 2010
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In the Dvorak Violin Concerto with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra"VSO: Koh & Akiyama"
Olivia Bevan, ReviewVancouver, January 18, 2010
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"VSO at the Orpheum Theatre"
Mike Herle, Guttersnipe News, January 18, 2010
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In Vivaldi's Four Seasons with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra"Violinist highlights Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra concert"
Chris Shull, The Star-Telegram, January 9, 2010
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Feature"Fort Worth Symphony brings springing rhythms to life"
Scott Cantrell, The Dallas Morning News, January 8, 2010
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Feature"High Spirits Make Familiar Music Seem Fresh"
Olin Chism, KERA Art&Seek Blog, January 10, 2010
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Feature"Best of 2009: Classical music"
San Antonio Express-News, December 26, 2009
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Feature"Talking with Jennifer Koh"
Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, December 16, 2009
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In Saariaho's Graal Théâtre at the Miller Theater"Finnish Composer Bursts Some of Her Own Myths"
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, November 25, 2009
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In the Brahms Concerto with the Grand Rapids Symphony"Grand Rapids Symphony's musical feast served with Hungarian touch"
Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk, The Grand Rapids Press, November 7, 2009
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In Recital at Oberlin College"Violinist Jennifer Koh follows daring solo paths at Oberlin College"
Donald Rosenberg, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 30, 2009
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"Jennifer Koh mesmerizes Finney Chapel audience with solo violin program"
Daniel Hathaway, clevelandclassical.com, November 2, 2009
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In the Prokofiev G minor concerto with the San Antonio Symphony"San Antonio Symphony: A feminine concert with lots of punch"
David Hendricks, San Antonio Express-News, October 12, 2009
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"A violinist true to the many ways of Prokofiev"
Mike Greenberg, Incident Light, October 10, 2009
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In the Bach D minor Partita"A Lunch Break With a Bach Partita as the Main Course"
Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, September 30, 2009
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In the Tchaikovsky Concerto with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra"Koh enthralls in EPSO season opener"
Doug Pullen, El Paso Times, September 27, 2009
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Feature"Classical Music/Opera Listings"
Allan KozinnThe New York Times, September 25, 2009
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Feature"In El Paso Concerts, Violinist Jennifer Koh Returns to the Work That First Won Her Acclaim"
Doug PullenEl Paso Times, September 19, 2009
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In Augusta Read Thomas's 3rd Concerto at the BBC Proms"Proms 2009: It was a balmy night in Athens"
Barry Millington, London Evening Standard, September 10, 2009
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"BBC Proms 2009: Prom 72, BBC Symphony Orchestra, review"
Ivan Hewett, Telegraph, September 10, 2009
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"BBCSO/Belohlávek"
Martin Kettle, The Guardian, September 10, 2009
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"Seen And Heard BBC Promenade Concert Review"
By Carla Rees, MusicWeb International, September 9, 2009
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Feature"Violinist Jennifer Koh premieres a new concerto at this year's BBC Proms"
The Strad, September 2009
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In Jennifer Higdon’s “The Singing Rooms” with Atlanta Symphony"Poetic works have local ties"
Pierre Ruhe, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 7, 2009
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In Mozart's 4th Concerto with the Evansville Philharmonic"Philharmonic Orchestra earns standing ovations"
Jamie Morris, Evansville Courier Press, February 22, 2009
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In the Mendelssohn Concerto with the Santa Barbara Symphony"SB Symphony Plays Mozart, Mendelssohn Violinist Jennifer Koh Joins SB Symphony for Valentine’s Day Concert"
Charles Donelan, Santa Barbara Independent, February 19, 2009
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Movado Hour Concert"Peering Into Complex Cloud Formations and Finding Sunshine"
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, February 10, 2009
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In the Brahms Concerto with the Rhode Island Philharmonic"Violinist Koh provides a high point at the Philharmonic"
Channing Gray, Providence Journal, January 25, 2009
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Feature"Violinist Koh will perform with R.I. Philharmonic"
The Providence Journal, January 22, 2009
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Vancouver Recital"Jennifer Koh casts a spell"
Jessica Werb, Vancouver Free Press, November 28, 2008
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Feature"Violinist Jennifer Koh breaks down barriers"
Jessica Werb, Vancouver Free Press, Straight.com, November 27, 2008
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Feature"Violinist Jennifer Koh sees Bach as link to modern music"
Vancouver Sun, November 26, 2008
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CD Review"Violin meets piano"
Toronto Star, 2008
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CD Review"String Poetic: Highly recommended"
Classics Today, 2008
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In the Brahms Concerto with the Oregon Symphony"Jennifer Koh thrills with Oregon Symphony"
James McQuillen, The Oregonian, November 23, 2008
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In Bernstein's Serenade with the National Symphony Orchestra"Beyond Brooklyn: An NSO Debut"
Anne Midgette, The Washington Post, November 14, 2008
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In Corigliano's Red Violin Concerto at Festival Miami"Big hall a perfect fit for big symphony The Knight Concert Hall filled in for the Roman Colosseum for the Florida premiere of John Corigliano's Circus Maximus"
Lawrence A. Johnson, Miami Herald, October 13, 2008
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In the Menotti Concerto with Symphony in C"Symphony in C returns It opened the season with Stravinsky, Menotti and Mozart"
Daniel Webster, Philadelphia Inquirer, October 7, 2008
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CD Review"High Time: Jennifer Koh's new album showcases an eclectic career at its height"
Chicago Magazine, May 2008
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In the Ligeti Concerto with CityMusic Cleveland"CityMusic Cleveland offers a breathtaking take on Ligeti Violin Concerto"
Donald Rosenberg, Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 7, 2008
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In Laura Elise Schwendinger’s “Chiaroscuro Azzurro” at Miller Theatre"Reaching the Final Turn in 3 Years of Bumpy Road"
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, March 31, 2008
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Performing the Weill concerto in Boston"Voices from the past, and Weill's eye on the future"
Matthew Guerrieri, The Boston Globe, March 19, 2008
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With the Memphis Symphony Orchestra"MSO's La Mer lively, dynamic"
Jon W. Sparks, The Commercial Appeal, October 29, 2007
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With the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra"Annapolis Symphony Orchestra"
Andrew Lindemann Malone, The Washington Post, May 7, 2007
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Feature"Heart Full of Soul"
Strings Magazine, Feature Article April, 2007
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In the world premiere of Charles Wuorinen's Violin Concerto"A Motley Group of Musicians in a Concerto of Contrasts"
Anne Midgette, The New York Times, April 17, 2007
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With Rossen Milanov and the Honolulu Symphony"Young virtuoso strings together energy, emotion in rousing concert"
Valeria Wenderoth, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, March 18, 2007
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Feature"Violin, virtuoso, Koh"
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, March 16, 2007
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With Reiko Uchida in Columbus"Violinist brings work of composers to life"
Lynn Green, Columbus Dispatch, March 5, 2007
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Ligeti Concerto with Orchestra 2001 in Philadephia"Ligeti's 'Violin Concerto,' performed by Orchestra 2001"
David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer, February 26, 2007
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With Reiko Uchida at the 92nd Street Y"Finding a Balance Between the Present and the Past"
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, February 17, 2007
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Feature"Tisch Music Talk: Jennifer Koh"
92nd Street Y Blog, January 29, 2007
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In recital with Reiko Uchida"Uncanny Duo"
Jerry Kuderna, San Francisco Classical Voice, January 16, 2007
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"Koh's vigor, energy shine at concert"
Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, January 15, 2007
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Feature"Violinist enjoys tackling 'unplayable' concerto"
New Jersey Star Ledger, January 5, 2007
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Feature"This might be the most interestingly programmed recital of the year"
Chicago Sun-Times, September 16, 2007
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Feature"Just Around the Corner: Philharmonic Music in the Parks"
The New York Times, March 23, 2006
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Feature"Literary Violinist: Jennifer Koh joins the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra"
TIMEOFF New Jersey, December 28, 2006
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With Jaime Laredo and the New York String Orchestra"Young Players Fulfill a Christmas Tradition at Carnegie Hall"
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, December 26, 2006
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Higdon's String Poetic with Reiko Uchida in Philadelphia"Higdon's violin sonata stretches the status quo"
David Patrick Stearn, The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 23, 2006
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Szymanowski Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Oregon Symphony and Carlos Kalmar"Oregon Symphony"
The Oregonian, October 16, 2006
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