Kotoka Suzuki

Kotoka Suzuki composes for both instrumental and electro-acoustic as well as for dance and film, with a keen interest in combining visual element and sound. Since her DAAD residency in Berlin (2001-2002), she has been increasingly engaged in producing collaborative audio-visual works with several artists in Berlin. Currently, she is producing two collaborative works with the video artist, Claudia Rohrmoser: an interactive audio-visual installation and a new work for piano, live-electronics, and video.  

Artists such as the Arditti String Quartet, Continuum, Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (Canada), Pacifica Quartet, Earplay Ensemble, and Junge Musik have performed her works. In addition, her works have been commissioned by Electronic Music Studio TU Berlin (Technical University Berlin), Berliner Kuenstlerprogramm DAAD, Sender Freies Berlin (Radio -Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg), Music At the Anthology (MATA), Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, and Continuum Contemporary Music (Canada).

Among her recent awards include first prize at the 30th Bourges International Electroacoustic Music and Sonic Art Competition in multimedia category (IMEB) (France), Musica Nova International Electroacoustic Music Competition Honor Prize (Czech), Robert Fleming Prize from Canada Council for the Arts, and Gerald Oshita Fellowship Award from Djerassi Resident Artists Program.  

Suzuki received a B.M. degree in composition from Indiana University and a D.M.A. degree in composition at Stanford University, where she studied with Jonathan Harvey (to whom she submitted her Doctoral thesis). She is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Chicago since 2004.