Amy Kohn (born June 5, 1972) is an American composer, lyricist, singer, pianist and

accordionist Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed i ...

Life and career

Born in Chicago, she studied at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

and

Conservatory of Music A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger i ...

in Ohio and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program. The final thesis for her master's degree was her chamber-opera ''1 Plum Sq'', which was later produced and broadcast in 2005 on

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that di ...

as part of their American Music Festival. In New York City Amy Kohn met the legendary producer

Arif Mardin Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for ov ...

who dubbed her a ''"Musical Devil in a Red Dress"'' and chose Amy as a featured singer and accordionist on his last effort: an album of songs written by Mardin himself and produced in the last year of his life. Also featured on this album are artists such as

Norah Jones Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. ''Billboard'' named her the ...

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

Raul Midón Raul Midón (born March 14, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from New Mexico. Biography Early life Midón was born prematurely in a rural hospital in Embudo, New Mexico, Embudo, New Mexico, to parents of Argentines, Arg ...

and

Dianne Reeves Dianne Elizabeth Reeves (born October 23, 1956) is an American jazz singer. Biography Dianne Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan, into a musical family. Her father sang, her mother played trumpet, her uncle is bassist Charles Burrell, and h ...

. She co-produced her album ''I’m in Crinoline'' (2006) with Arif's son

Joe Mardin Joe Mardin (born Yusuf Mardin) is a Turkish-American music producer, arranger and engineer from New York City. He is a Berklee College of Music graduate and is the son of the Turkish American producer Arif Mardin. Joe Mardin is also a conductor, s ...

of NuNoise Records. She lives in New York where she is the leader of her 7-piece band (the Amy Kohn Band). Outside of the United States she has performed her music in European festivals (such as the ''Edinburgh's Fringe Festival'', ''Woma Jazz'' and ''UBI Jazz'' in Italy and ''Festival of Performing Arts'' in

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian language, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot language, Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene language, Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the List of cities and town ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

) and in tandem with the Italian pianist and singer Debora Petrina in the project ''Naked'' (NienteAltroKEDonne). Her music was also transmitted on many European radio stations (such as the UK's ''

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

'', ''

BBC 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

'' and ''

Resonance FM Resonance 104.4 FM is a London based non-profit community radio station specialising in the arts run by the London Musicians' Collective (LMC). The station is staffed by four permanent staff members, including programme controller Ed Baxter and ...

'' and ''Concertzender'' in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

). She has worked on commissions from the string quartet

Ethel Ethel (also '' æthel'') is an Old English word meaning "noble", today often used as a feminine given name. Etymology and historic usage The word means ''æthel'' "noble". It is frequently attested as the first element in Anglo-Saxon names, b ...

of New York City, for pianist Guy Livingston (DVD: One Minute More) and for the children's theater company ''I Fantaghirò''http://www.fantaghiro.org/?cmd=musiche Music for "Il Brutto Anatroccolo" (The Ugly Duckling) for ''I Fantaghirò'' (Padua, Italy) of

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, Italy.

Discography

Albums

*"The Glass Laughs Back" 1999 *"I’m in Crinoline" 2006 *"PlexiLusso" 2014

References

External links

Amy Kohn's official websiteAmy Kohn in BandcampAmy Kohn's Radio Opera "1 Plum Sq."
on

website
Article on Amy Kohn's PlexiLusso album design
by Non-Format on

Wired.com ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fran ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kohn, Amy Living people 1972 births Singers from Chicago American women composers 21st-century American composers American women pianists American accordionists Women accordionists Oberlin Conservatory of Music alumni Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development alumni 21st-century accordionists 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American composers 20th-century accordionists 20th-century American singers 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American women singers 20th-century women composers 21st-century women composers