Cheng Jin KOH

Short BIo [updated JAN 2026] (<250 words)

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.

As a composer, Cheng Jin’s music have been performed in major venues across the U.S., Australia, China, Taiwan, Japan, the U.K., and Singapore, including the Sydney Opera House, Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, Lincoln Center, Kyoto Concert Hall, and National Concert Hall Taipei. Notable collaborators include the American Composers Orchestra, Talea Ensemble, Lincoln Trio, Verona Quartet, Bergamot Quartet, Central and China Conservatories of Music, Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, among several others. Her most significant accolades include the BMI Composer (William Schuman) Prize, an ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, the American Prize, the Zemlinsky Prize, 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 Ph.D. fellow (ABD) at New York University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. As a researcher, she is most passionate about Asian contemporary music, music of the Chinese diaspora, and intercultural music. Her pedagogues include Melinda Wagner, Louis Karchin, Robert Beaser, Kelly Tang, Jianqing Qu and Pohchun Seah.