XV Chopin International Piano Competition
Hartford, CT

          Josephine Koh is the Festival and Artistic Director of Joyeux Music International. A Bösendorfer concert pianist based in Singapore, her various designations at established music entities in Singapore includes Principal of Josephine Koh Piano Academy, Managing Director and Resident Author of Wells Music Publishers and most recently, the founder of Joyeux Sinfonietta - an orchestra that specialises in concerto accompaniment. With her early musical training in voice, piano performance, composition and orchestration – in the French tradition of Nadia Boulanger, she graduated as Fellow of Trinity College London, and Licentiate in Compositional Techniques. She studied piano with Vincenzo Balzani in Milan and took part in various international piano competitions. Upon being conferred Associate of the Royal College of Music (ARCM) in London, she started to perform extensively in Europe and Asia, both as a soloist and in ensemble settings. In 2009, Josephine Koh was appointed ambassador for Bösendorfer Pianos.

​

          As a 21st century pianist, Josephine Koh was awarded 'Most Distinguished Musician' by the IBLA Foundation at the 24th International Music International Music Competition (2015); Laureate Diploma Winner at the International "Bartolomeo Cristofori" 2015 and Laureate Third Prize Winner at the "Gloria and Polyphonica" 2016 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Her mentors notably include Tatyanna Lupikina, Dimitrii Schirin (St Petersburg) and Yuri Didenko (Russia). With various appearances as concerto soloist with orchestras in Europe, her musical development continues with the great Russian masters - Vladimir Ovchinnikov and Dimitry Baskirov.

 

          In the field of Orchestral Conducting, Josephine Koh studied conducting under Denise Ham and George Hurst in the UK and later, with Ovidiu Balan in Romania at the International Conductors’ Academy (2011-12). She was Artistic Director and Conductor at the Centre for the Arts, National University of Singapore (NUS) from 2006 to 2018. Josephine Koh was instrumental in mentoring orchestral music arrangers in Singapore and providing educational support to musicians in the Singapore Arms Forces. At NUS-CFA structured training programmes for undergraduates and directed various multi-media concerts and arts events. Josephine Koh’s conducting appearances include accompanying vocal, instrumental works and creative theatre productions. In recent years, apart from concerts with the Bacau Philharmonic Orchestra, she conducted at the Alion Baltic International Music Festival 2018.

 

          In 2019, Josephine Koh became the Artistic Director of Joyeux Music International. She collaborated with Yuri Didenko to form the jury team, dedicated to better music education on an international scale in the vibrant climate of Singapore.