A violinist of great range and energy, Salley Koo has performed internationally as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician. Her recent calendar includes engagements as soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, orchestral guest, and faculty in California, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Wisconsin, and Korea. Salley has appeared in concert at the Musikverein in Vienna, Bargemusic, Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, and Central Park in New York, Music from Salem, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, the National Cathedral and National Gallery in Washington D.C., Columbia Museum of Art, the Harris Theater in Chicago, the Nasher Series in Dallas, the Peoples Symphony Concerts, the Ojai, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Skaneateles, and Caramoor Festivals, and on tour alongside artists ranging from Bela Fleck to Dawn Upshaw to Gil Shaham. She soloed with the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra and recently returned a third time to Lebanon as artist in residence with the IMAGINE Workshop and Concert Series at the Lebanese American University in Beirut. She is regularly invited as a guest artist with groups such as the Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, East Coast Chamber Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and the Knights. Dr. Koo’s, multicultural project, Dari, aims to build and strengthen bridges between contemporary Korean compositions and the classical Western canon. Dari—meaning “bridge” in Korean—builds vital, overlapping connections among music students, performers, and pedagogues; between new music and the Western canon; and beyond, all while amplifying the voices of Korean composers. Dari accomplishes this connection through its novel paradigm: commissions paired with co-created pedagogical companion violin works.

Despite a performance itinerary that has covered North America, Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia, Dr. Koo has established a thriving teaching career. She was thrilled to join old friends and new colleagues at the School of Music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as assistant professor of violin in the Fall of 2022. Previously, Dr. Koo served as violin professor at both Adelphi University in NY, Montclair State University in NJ, visiting lecturer at UIUC, and violin professor and coordinator of chamber music at the University of Connecticut, in Storrs, CT; other faculty appointments include the Green Lake Chamber Music Festival in WI (where is newly serving as Associate Program Director in tandem with her faculty position), Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in New Hampshire, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival in Vermont, Dwight-Englewood String Society in New Jersey, Vermont’s Young Artist Program at Yellow Barn, the Opus 118 We Want Music! program in East Harlem, New York, Elm City ChamberFest, and the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, Connecticut.
www.salleykoo.com