Jennifer Koh

The student-run Ethos New Music Society at the State University of New York at Fredonia will present renowned violinist Jennifer Koh in a virtual residency that will feature two discussions, “Decolonizing Western Music,” on Thursday, April 1, at 6 p.m., and “Creativity in the Time of COVID-19,” Friday, April 2, at 5 p.m.

The first discussion will focus on the necessary presence of female and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) artists in music, while the second session will address how artists can create new, original works within the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both virtual events are free, can be located on Fredonia’s Events Calendar and are open to all students and the general public. Information on the Zoom links can be found online at https://events.fredonia.edu/

In addition, Ms. Koh will be giving a master class for Fredonia student string performers on Saturday, April 3, at 8 p.m. For more information, contact the Ethos Advisor and School of Music Professor Rob Deemer via email at deemer@fredonia.edu

Koh has recorded 12 albums, including her fall 2018 “Kaija Saariaho” release, with Chicago-based Cedille Records. She has been honored as Musical America’s 2016 Instrumentalist of the Year, top prize winner at Moscow’s International Tchaikovsky Competition, winner of the Concert Artists Guild Competition, and as a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Koh is the artistic director of arco collaborative, an artist driven nonprofit organization that supports artistic collaborations and commissions, transforming the creative process by engaging with specific ideas and perspectives, and investing in the future by cultivating artist-citizens in partnership with educational organizations.

Koh has been heard with leading orchestras around the world including the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics; the Cleveland, Mariinsky Theatre, Minnesota, Philadelphia, and Philharmonia (London) Orchestras; the Atlanta, Baltimore, BBC, Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Milwaukee, Montreal, Nashville, National, New Jersey, New World, NHK (Tokyo), Pittsburgh, RAI National (Torino), St. Louis, Seattle, and Singapore Symphony Orchestras and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, among other ensembles.

She has worked with such conductors as John Adams, Marin Alsop, James Conlon, Gustavo Dudamel, Christoph Eschenbach, Giancarlo Guerrero, Manfred Honeck, Louis Langree, Carlos Kalmar, Lorin Maazel, Sakari Oramo, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Juraj Valcuha, Osmo V–nsk–, Alexander Vedernikov, and Edo de Waart.

Ethos New Music Society is a student-funded organization at Fredonia which hosts guest composers and performers and offers concerts of student works.