Reviews

“I was deeply impressed with both the quality of playing you drew from the orchestra and your insightful interpretation…It was greatly to your credit that the orchestra sounded so positive and precise…I also much appreciated the detail you brought out from the writing and the depth with which you had obviously gone into the score”
– music critic Dr Marc Rochester (2019)

“[Kai Jie] stands out for his energy … [the orchestra] sounds really beautiful, with a full sound”
– review by KlasikaPlus.cz (2023)

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Koh Kai Jie

About Me.

I am based in Singapore. I work regularly with young musicians as a conductor and it fills me with joy to be an agent of growth for them on their musical pathway. I have had the privilege to work in masterclass with numerous professional orchestras, like the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. As a pianist, I absolutely love playing the piano as a medium of expression, and to enrich my inner life.

Professional Engagements

Kids' Philharmonic @ SG

Eunoia Junior College Chamber Strings

St Nicholas Girls' School String Orchestra

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music,

National University of Singapore

Principal Conductor (2024 - present)

Oversees all orchestral activities in the organisation, conducting the Senior Orchestra (ages 13-17) and the Chamber Orchestra (ages 10-13)

Conductor (2024 - present)

Assistant Conductor (2022 - present)

Conducted ensemble featuring Boston Brass alongside YST Brass faculty and students in concert (2024)

Conducted chamber opera production of Chen Zhangyi's Kampung Spirit (2021) as part of YST Voyage Festival (2022)

Served as Music Director to musical production of The Fantasticks staged by the YST voice department (2023)

Conductor of YST Electone Orchestra, leading conservatory pianists on an orchestral playing experience through the use of Yamaha Stagea Electones (2022-2024)

Read my full bio

Biography

An emerging Singaporean conductor and pianist, Kai Jie Koh has received positive acclaim on numerous occasions. His performance with a Yong Siew Toh (YST) Conservatory chamber orchestra in 2019 was lauded by music critic Dr Marc Rochester, who was “deeply impressed with both the quality of playing […] and [his] insightful interpretation”. Most recently in 2023, Kai Jie’s performance with the Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc also “stood out for his energy … [and the orchestra] sounded really beautiful, with a full sound” (KlasikaPlus.cz). As a passionate educator, Kai Jie’s work with young musicians is extensive. He serves as Principal Conductor of the Kids’ Philharmonic@sg Youth Orchestra and conductor of Eunoia Junior College Chamber Strings. In 2024, he conducted the Kids’ Philharmonic@sg alongside the Georg-Friedrich-Händel Youth Orchestra in concert at the Berliner Philharmonie Großer Saal.

Kai Jie has also conducted various Singaporean ensembles in concert, including the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra, Yong Siew Toh (YST) Conservatory Orchestra and OpusNovus. Kai Jie regularly works on projects with YST Conservatory, most recently conducting a brass ensemble featuring Boston Brass alongside YST Brass faculty and students in 2024. In 2023, he served as Music Director to a musical production of The Fantasticks staged by the conservatory voice department. He also conducted Chen Zhangyi’s chamber opera Kampung Spirit as part of the YST Voyage Festival in 2022.

An accomplished pianist, Kai Jie also attained the first prize in the YST Conservatory Concerto Competition (Piano Category) in 2020, as well as the second prizes in the National Piano and Violin Competition (Senior Category) and the Singapore Yamaha Piano Competition (Open Category) in 2013. In 2022, Kai Jie performed as piano soloist with a chamber orchestra comprising YST musicians, conducting the orchestra from the piano in the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 17. Kai Jie is also an avid collaborator on the piano, having served as rehearsal pianist for numerous productions, most recently in Haydn’s Die Schöpfung performed by the YST Orchestral Institute in 2023.

Kai Jie attained degrees in conducting and piano at YST Conservatory, studying with conductor Jason Lai and pianist Albert Tiu. Kai Jie has been mentored by prominent conductors and conducting pedagogues Andrew Litton, Colin Metters, Douglas Bostock, Jac van Steen, Jorma Panula, Joshua Tan, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Tomáš Netopil and Otto Tausk, conducting the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc and Kecskemét Symphony Orchestra in various masterclasses.