Violinist Jennifer Koh likes to keep her options open.
“I could never limit myself to playing just chamber music or only orchestral repertoire,” said the 31-year- old virtuoso, who returns to Colorado for performances with the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival and the Colorado Music Festival.
“It’s all part of the larger whole — to do one but not the other would be like breathing but not sleeping.”
In Vail, Koh will play Felix Mendelssohn’s Concerto in E Minor, and in Boulder — with former Oberlin classmate Michael Christie — she’ll present Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, both “old friends” in her varied repertoire.
“The Mendelssohn concerto is one of the first I ever learned, and the Beethoven also came to me when I was fairly young,” she said. “There’s something quite beautiful about returning to these pieces again and again over time. They serve as touchstones, indicating how you’re changing and — hopefully — growing as a musician.
“Even in the familiar, there are always new things to discover . . . new gifts you pick up along the way.”
Since she won Moscow’s International Tchaikovsky Competition, the Concert Artists Guild Competition and an Avery Fisher Career Grant in the mid-’90s, Koh — who plays a 1727 Ex Grumiaux Ex General DuPont Stradivari on loan — has earned her place among the best of the younger generation of classical violinists.
Indeed, described by The Strad magazine as a “risk-taking, high-octane player of the kind who grabs the listener by the ears and refuses to let go,” Koh is known to deliver brilliant technique and exceptional intonation.
“I never consciously decided to be a violinist as a career, but it was clear to me early on that playing the violin is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” she said. “I’m lucky in that I’ve had some exceptional mentors in my life, people who believed in me before I believed in myself, who helped guide me through the different stages of becoming an artist.
“For me, there are so many branches to being an artist, to continue to be inspired. I don’t think of music as separate from a culture. For example, I find that if the literature or politics from a certain place or historical period intrigue me, it’s usually true that the music from that era is also compelling. I love making those kinds of connections.”
Another component of Koh’s artistic endeavors is her “Music Messenger” program, which aims to stimulate an appreciation of the arts in children.
“I’m always rethinking my approach to music, looking for new points of exploration,” said Koh, who started “Music Messenger” when she became aware that integrated arts education is a low priority in most public schools.
“For me,” she said, “staying inspired means sharing your passion with kids who are always so eager, so curious. Whether I play Bach or Bartok, they approach it and receive in exactly the same way, with a spirit of openness.
“We develop set grooves over time, but being around kids is wonderful because they remind us that there’s always room for new interpretations and that music is a living, malleable art form.”
In her work with kids, Koh places particular emphasis on listening.
“One of the most important elements of being a musician is how well you listen, not how well you play,” she said. “Either way, music is an opportunity for kids to find an individual way to express themselves.
“It can be reductive to say that music is like a language, but it is. And depending on how you emphasize a note or a phrase, you can change its meaning . . . like the difference between saying ‘I love YOU’ or ‘I LOVE you.'”
Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival
Classical music Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail. Jennifer Koh performs Felix Mendelssohn’s Concerto in E Minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 64, with conductor Christopher Seaman and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. 6 p.m. today. $23 to $59. 877-812-5700 or
Colorado Music Festival
Classical music. Chautauqua Auditorium, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder. Jennifer Koh joins conductor Michael Christie and the CMF Chamber Orchestra to kick off the Festival’s Beethoven Rocks series with his Violin Concerto and Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 (“Pastoral”). 7:30 p.m. July 6. $12 to $47. 303-440- 7666 or .
