Cheng Jin KOH

Short BIo [updated JUNE 2024]

Writing music characterized by “lyrical centers,” that “channeled spirituality” and “vehemence” (The Straits Times), Singaporean composer and Yangqin performer Cheng Jin KOH strives to transcend cultural boundaries with imaginative storytelling and music making. She was recently a grant winner of the New York State Council on the Arts, and commissioned composer for the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art centennial celebrations and 2022 Singapore International Violin Competition.

As composer, Cheng Jin has collaborated with the Talea Ensemble, American Guild of Organists, Verona Quartet, Bergamot Quartet, Central and China Conservatories of Music, Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Ding Yi Music Company, and TENG Ensemble, among others. Most significant accolades include the BMI Foundation Young Composer (William Schuman) Prize, an ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, the Society of New Music Brian Israel Prize, Palmer Dixon Award and Gena Raps Chamber Music Prize (both from The Juilliard School), and the Boston New Music Initiative (BNMI) Prize. As Yangqin musician, she was one of the youngest grand prize winners of the Singapore Chinese Music Competition and performed as a soloist with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra at eighteen. A member of the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, she also regularly premieres her own music, which mostly involve multicultural and interdisciplinary explorations.

Having completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at the Juilliard School, Cheng Jin is currently a PhD MacCracken fellow (ABD candidate) and a teaching assistant at New York University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Her pedagogues include Melinda Wagner, Louis Karchin, Robert Beaser, Kelly Tang, Jianqing Qu and Pohchun Seah.