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

Early life and education

Born in Chicago, she studied at Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music in Ohio and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

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 as part of their American Music Festival.

Career

In New York City Amy Kohn met the legendary producer Arif Mardin 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,

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

, Raul Midón and Dianne Reeves. She co-produced her album ''I’m in Crinoline'' (2006) with Arif's son Joe Mardin 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, Croatia) 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 6 Music'' and '' Resonance FM'' and ''Concertzender'' in the Netherlands). She has worked on commissions from the string quartet Ethel 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 ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

, 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 WNYC website
Article on Amy Kohn's PlexiLusso album design
by Non-Format on Wired.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kohn, Amy Living people 1972 births Singers from Chicago 21st-century American composers American women pianists American women accordionists Oberlin Conservatory of Music alumni Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development alumni 21st-century American accordionists 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American composers 20th-century American accordionists 20th-century American singers 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American women composers 21st-century American women composers