Jonathan Koh
New England Conservatory; MIT; University of California, Berkeley
Jonathan Koh is a distinguished cellist and teacher whose students have become prizewinners, soloists, and emerging leaders of the next generation of classical musicians. A member of the cello faculty at New England Conservatory, MIT, and University of California, Berkeley, Koh is recognized for combining an exceptionally high level of technical training with a deeply individualized approach to musical development.
Koh’s teaching career has taken him to some of the country’s leading institutions and summer programs. His studio has attracted talented cellists from across the United States, Europe, and Asia, many of whom have gone on to achieve significant success. His students have earned prizes and honors in major competitions, including the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, Klein International Competition, American String Teachers Association Competition, Music Teachers National Association Competition, Sphinx Competition, and YoungArts. They have been featured on NPR’s From the Top and selected for leading programs and festivals, including Verbier, Cello Akademie Rutesheim, Morningside Music Bridge, Music@Menlo, Yellow Barn, Aspen, Meadowmount, Heifetz, and New York String Orchestra Seminar. Many have appeared as soloists and won positions with professional orchestras, and have gone on to study at leading conservatories and universities.
As a performer, Koh brings a broad and distinguished professional perspective to his teaching. He has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral cellist throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. At the age of twenty, he performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and he has also performed with the San Francisco Symphony as a substitute cellist. He has recorded under the NAXOS label as principal cellist of the New Prospect Chamber Players.
Koh’s own musical career began at Northwestern University, where he studied with Hans Jørgen Jensen and served as his primary teaching assistant during his undergraduate years. His unusually broad academic background, including studies in economics and pre-medicine, has contributed to an approach to teaching that emphasizes not only technical mastery and musical expression but also independent thinking, discipline, curiosity, and the development of the whole young artist.
For Koh, teaching is ultimately about helping young musicians discover and articulate their own artistic voices. His studio is built around close mentorship, rigorous preparation, and the belief that technical excellence should serve musical imagination rather than exist apart from it.
Koh performs on an Andrea Guarneri cello, circa 1690.
