Selected reviews

I Care if You Listen on Farewell Dwelling

Scored for yangqin, piano, percussion, and flute, its contrasting timbres were related yet each had their own distinctive character… Ko’s striking approach to sound made this the musical highlight of the programme.

San Francisco Chronicle on From Ivory Depths

Tonia Ko’s From Ivory Depths sets fragments of text from Virginia Woolf’s writings and is a highlight…The second movement, “Tuesday,” creates colorful, textured soundscapes with extended techniques. It engages your mind and ears and invites you to listen more deeply.

The Strad Magazine on Moves and Remains

Moves and Remains for solo violin, a striking premiere by US composer Tonia Ko, displays her unusually fluid knowledge of advanced violin techniques, including strumming open strings behind the bridge (a nod to Hawaii, the composer’s childhood home).

The New York Times on Games of Belief

Her captivating score plays musical games of sound and color, often requiring Mr. Lebhardt to strike keys with one hand while, leaning into the piano, moving his other over the strings to create sounds that combined percussive thumps with sighing harmonics. The more traditional elements involved rustling runs, skittish riffs and high tinkling figures that evoked pagoda chimes, all splendidly played.

The New York Times on Strange Sounds and Explosions Worldwide

In writing the symphony, Ms. Ko...conducted spectral analyses of audio clips of explosions and experimented with other sounds. The resulting piece for acoustic instruments proved more somber and eerie than jubilant, its initial rumblings morphing into dramatic surges. Ms. Ko’s vivid orchestral palette included fragile whispers in the upper strings interrupted by ominous brass flourishes, with sonic explosions following more sparsely orchestrated fragments.

The Washington Post on Covers and Uncovers

...Covers and Uncovers” required the strings and winds to rattle and ring brightly hued desk bells and the percussionist to “play” a metal tube using a threaded metal rod – sights that appeared as curious as they first sounded. However, the juxtaposition of earthy noises with ringing bells and instrumental tones worked well to create an abstract landscape vista.

Photos

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