Award-winning composer, Joyce Koh is Senior Lecturer and Vice Dean of Interdisciplinary Studies and Academic Enhancement, Office of Academic Affairs, at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts since 2014.
After twenty years of professional practice in Europe, she returned to Singapore in 2007 to head the music faculty at the School of the Arts. She was responsible for the design and implementation of the Music Specialist curriculum and had spearheaded a 4-year Integrated Arts Programme at the School. Subsequently, in 2011, she joined the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and the National Institute of Education as a part-time lecturer. She also holds a range of advisory roles for the Museum Education Advisory Panel at the National Gallery Singapore, National Arts Council of Singapore, Singapore Workforce Development Agency, and the Asia-Europe Foundation.
Joyce Koh has a creative output ranging from concert music, dance collaborations, multimedia production, to interactive sound installations. Originating from her interests in architecture and interdisciplinarity, her work explores notions of sonic canvas, space and theatre of music. As described by the International Piano Quarterly, her sound world “engages the intellect and requires a different approach”.
Highlights of her works include “Tai” (orchestra), “Divergent Plates” (accordion concerto), “Isskimmer” (quintet), “Were we here?” (theatre of music), “The Waste Land” (theatre), "On the String" (multimedia), "The Canopy" (sound installation), "Hearing Lines" (audio-visual), "Fire Monkey" (site-specific dance), Infinite Octagon (dance film) and "Sounding Body" (interactive dance-music).
Versatile and collaborative, Joyce has a wealth of experience working with musicians, choreographers, theatre-makers, artists, writers, philosophers, filmmakers, and architects. They include Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Australia Song Company, De Ereprijs Netherlands, Ensemble Reconsil Austria, France Résonance Contemporaine, Ensemble Contemporaine de Montréal, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Hungarian Radio Orchestra, Norwegian Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Dingyi Chinese Music Ensemble, Singapore Arts Fission Dance Company, Singapore Raw Moves, Steve Dixon, Delia Prvacki, Yeo Chee Kiong, Étienne Turpin, Yeo Wei Wei, Good Company Arts New Zealand, and ESKYIU Studio Hong Kong.
She has an accomplished record of performances at international festivals, notably International Computer Music Conferences, International Symposium on Electronic Arts, World Stage Design, Biennale Musiques France, Sir Henry Wood Promenade UK, London Spitalfields Festival, Melbourne Arts Festival, Sydney InsideOut Festival, Singapore Arts Festival, Singapore Dan:s Festival, and Soundislands Festival.
She has been invited as Composer-in-Residence at École Nationale de Musique, Montbéliard, France (2006), Herrenhaus Edenkoben, Germany (2004), and Theatre Works, Singapore (2001). Her publications include 2 piano works published by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, UK; and proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference and the International Society of Electronic Arts.
Joyce Koh studied composition in the UK and France as well as attended conducting courses with Diego Masson and Peter Eötvös under scholarships from the Foyle Foundation at Dartington UK and Centre Acanthes France respectively.