Jennifer Koh

Grammy Award-winning violinist Jennifer Koh is celebrated for her commanding performances and dedication to both traditional and contemporary repertoire. Equally at home in works from Bach to today’s composers, she is recognized for her dazzling virtuosity, breadth of musical curiosity and fearless approach to programming. Koh has premiered more than 100 works and developed groundbreaking commissioning projects that have redefined the contemporary violin repertoire. Her initiatives—including Alone Together, Bach and Beyond, Bridge to Beethoven and The American Concerto—explore the instrument’s evolving voice through dialogue between past and present, and through multidisciplinary collaboration and social engagement.

Now in her third year as Artistic Director of the Fortas Chamber Music Concerts at the Kennedy Center, Koh continues to shape the series with a focus on artistic equity, musical evolution and bold new work. Under her leadership, Fortas has commissioned over 40 new compositions. This season, as part of the series, she performs recitals from her Bridge to Beethoven series with longtime collaborator pianist Thomas Sauer. Additional engagements this season include a San Francisco Performances recital with Sauer featuring the west coast premiere of Tania León’s Para, and performances of Philip Glass’ Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Vermont and Atlanta symphonies, and Brahms’ Violin Concerto with the Shreveport Symphony. She returns to her alma mater Oberlin College for an extended residency including performances of works from her The American Concerto series with the Contemporary Music Ensemble.

Named Musical America’s 2016 Instrumentalist of the Year, Koh has won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Concert Artists Guild Competition and an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and holds an honorary doctorate from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She has a BA in English literature from Oberlin College and studied at the Curtis Institute, where she worked with Jaime Laredo and Felix Galimir. She is an active lecturer, teacher and recording artist for Cedille Records and her discography includes the Grammy-winning Alone Together and her acclaimed Bach & Beyond series. She is the Founder of ARCO Collaborative, a nonprofit focused on amplifying underrepresented voices in classical music.