Midori Koga

Biography

With performances described as “passionate” (Ann Arbor News), “meltingly lovely”, “rippling clean” (Globe and Mail), and “with exquisite tone colors” (Fanfare Magazine), pianist Midori Koga has been featured throughout Canada, USA, Spain, Taiwan, China and Austria. Chamber music collaborations have included those with the acclaimed percussion ensemble NEXUS, Soundstreams Ensemble, and with members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) in their New Creations Festival. Internationally released recordings can be heard on the Albany, Equilibrium, Fleur de Son, NAXOS, Blue Griffin and Centrediscs labels.

An advocate of contemporary music, Koga is a founding member of HAVEN, a trio for soprano, clarinet and piano (www.haventrio.com). The ensemble has commissioned a compelling body of repertoire from composers throughout North America. Their recordings: all we are given we cannot hold (Blue Griffin, 2023), Twinge (Blue Griffin, 2019), Atonement (Fleur de Son, 2015), and Bright Angel (Fleur de Son, 2013) can be found on all streaming platforms. As recipients of a Barlow Endowment Commissioning Grant (2021), two Chamber Music America (CMA) Classical Commissioning Grants (2021 and 2015), and an Ontario Arts Council Grant (2016) HAVEN has continued their commitment for the creation of new music. The 2015 CMA Grant commissioned the work Twinge by composer Jon Magnussen based on the New York Times Magazine article by Pulitzer Prize winner Barry Bearak, which told the stories of six survivors of the 2004 earthquake and tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

Also active as lecturer, adjudicator and piano pedagogy specialist, Dr. Koga has served in the College of Examiners for the Royal Conservatory of Music, as national adjudicator for the Canadian Music Competitions, and has presented pedagogical workshops worldwide. Highlight peer-review presentations include those for the International Society for Music Education Conference; Music Teachers’ National Association Conferences; World Piano Pedagogy Conference; European Piano Teachers’ Association Conference and the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy in Chicago.

A passionate educator, Midori Koga, currently serves as Professor at the University of Toronto where she teaches piano and serves as Director of the first Canadian MMus and DMA programs in Piano Pedagogy and Performance. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan.

www.haventrio.com
www.pianopedagogy.ca