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Tonia Ko

About this Artist

Tonia Ko (b. 1988) holds a DMA from Cornell University, where she studied with Steven Stucky and Kevin Ernste. Born in Hong Kong and raised in Honolulu, she earned previous degrees from Indiana University and the Eastman School of Music.Tonia’s music has been lauded by The New York Times for its “captivating” details and “vivid orchestral palette.” Her interests in texture and physical movement play into a larger theme of interdependency between visual art and music. Tonia’s music has been performed by ensembles such as Minnesota Orchestra, Volti, New York Youth Symphony, Flux Quartet, orkest de ereprijs, Eastman Wind Ensemble, and New Morse Code. She has been featured at nief-norf Summer Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, Shanghai New Music Week, and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Tonia has received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, BMI, Composers Now, as well as residencies at Copland House, Djerassi, and Atlantic Center for the Arts. She is represented by Young Concert Artists as 2015-2017 Composer-in-Residence. Her explorations as an artist have sparked interdisciplinary connections— most prominently "Breath, Contained", an ongoing project using bubble wrap as a canvas for both art and sound.