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I am originally from Victoria BC and I am a classical violinist and a competitive premier Scottish Highland dancer. As a multimedia sonic artist, my knowledge, experience, and skills as both a musician and a dancer has benefitted me greatly in my solo and collaborative interactive compositions.
As a violinist, I have played in different orchestras and quartets for a variety of events and festivals in Victoria, Nanaimo, and Vancouver. I started post-secondary in Nanaimo at the Vancouver Island University in the Bachelor of Music, Classical Transfer program. While I was there, I played violin in the Nanaimo Chamber Orchestra, sang in the Malaspina Choir and College Singers, and danced in the Brigadoon Dance Academy. I was also hired to teach violin at Long & McQuade and Arbutus Music. At the end of the school year, I earned the Jane McKrecher Classical Music Award for Outstanding Achievement at VIU. My violin professor at VIU was Professor James Mark. |
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After my first year, I transferred to the University of British Columbia. In 2018 I completed my B.A. Double Major in Music and English Literature, and Minor in Applied Music Technology Degree. While in Vancouver, I danced in the Vancouver School of Highland Dance, played violin in the Vancouver Pops Symphony, played the janggu in the UBC Korean Drumming Ensemble, and sang in UBC's Women's Choir and the UBC A Capella. In 2016 my A Capella group was invited by Deke Sharon, the arranger Pitch Perfect, to perform at Carnegie Hall as part of Total Vocal 2. I continued to teach violin online. I also completed her Grade 10 RCM Violin exam under the tutelage of Professor Jasper Wood.
While at UBC, I developed a love for electroacoustic composition, interactive music/dance, and working with Arduinos. For my graduating capstone project, I made TRAVIS: Touch Responsive Augmented Violin Interface System. I presented it at MURC 2018 (Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Conference) and received the MURC – URO Interdisciplinary Award. I studied electroacoustic composition, and building hardware with Arduinos with Dr. Bob Pritchard. And I studied programming with Max MSP/Jitter with Dr. Keith Hamel.
I had continued my research for TRAVIS II, as well as interactive music in my graduate studies at the University of Calgary. I graduated in the summer of 2020 with a Masters of Music in Sonic Arts degree. My supervisor was Dr. Laurie Radford. While at the University of Calgary I played violin and mixed the recordings for Sofra Ensemble. It was a research ensemble directed by Bahar Bingol. We fused Turkish and Western styles of music and explored methods of composition through the use of improvisation. I was also part of a research group for Hacking Disability in Music Education. My team was collaborating with Music Community Lab and Live Code NYC to study how to improve accessibility of their events. I was also part of a research group in iLab that was exploring how to augment theatre props so that actors can interact/control the theatre's lighting and sound.
For my thesis I was researching the creative process of designing new DMIs (Digital Musical Instruments) by first considering the affordances of the technology. The result was making the GLOBE (Gesture sensing, Luminous, Oscillating Ball Environment).
While at UBC, I developed a love for electroacoustic composition, interactive music/dance, and working with Arduinos. For my graduating capstone project, I made TRAVIS: Touch Responsive Augmented Violin Interface System. I presented it at MURC 2018 (Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Conference) and received the MURC – URO Interdisciplinary Award. I studied electroacoustic composition, and building hardware with Arduinos with Dr. Bob Pritchard. And I studied programming with Max MSP/Jitter with Dr. Keith Hamel.
I had continued my research for TRAVIS II, as well as interactive music in my graduate studies at the University of Calgary. I graduated in the summer of 2020 with a Masters of Music in Sonic Arts degree. My supervisor was Dr. Laurie Radford. While at the University of Calgary I played violin and mixed the recordings for Sofra Ensemble. It was a research ensemble directed by Bahar Bingol. We fused Turkish and Western styles of music and explored methods of composition through the use of improvisation. I was also part of a research group for Hacking Disability in Music Education. My team was collaborating with Music Community Lab and Live Code NYC to study how to improve accessibility of their events. I was also part of a research group in iLab that was exploring how to augment theatre props so that actors can interact/control the theatre's lighting and sound.
For my thesis I was researching the creative process of designing new DMIs (Digital Musical Instruments) by first considering the affordances of the technology. The result was making the GLOBE (Gesture sensing, Luminous, Oscillating Ball Environment).
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As far as I know, Scottish Highland dancing has been in my family for at least four generations. As a dancer, I have performed traditional Highland dances and Highland choreographies, as well as other genres such as jazz, hip hop, and ballet. I have competed in local Highland dance competitions, as well as championships across Canada. These include many BC Provincial Championships, four of the ScotDance Canada Championship Series (2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014), and a US-Interregional Championship (2011). In 2017 I received the Mrs. Adeline Duncan Memorial Highland Dance Scholarship. My teachers include Lynne Griffiths, Diena Henry, Kate McRae, and Alexandra and Elayna Campbell.
In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic I returned to Victoria, BC to finish my Masters degree online. I graduated from my Masters in Music, Sonic Arts program in August 2020. Now I work for a music software company and continue working on interactive projects with the loving support of my life partner, Kevin Mitchell. He is also a software engineer and an amateur musician, and I have been introducing him to the wondrous world of how to combine these two passions. I was a finalist for the Guthman Musical Instrument competition (2022) for my instrument, the GLOBE. More info on the competition can be found here: https://guthman.gatech.edu/2022-competition In 2023 I married Kevin Mitchell. All my publications are under my previous name "Ko", and if I have any new publications in the future I will continue to use "Ko" for consistency. |
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