Tsz Nok Jerry Ko

As an award-winning jazz composer, guitarist, and classical pianist, Jerry’s musical passion is to create unique sounds using the language of jazz and Western classical music. Jerry’s pieces have been recognized by the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers (ISJAC), where he presented at the New Music Workshop Symposium in May 2022, and the first online New Music Workshop in October 2022. His arrangement of “The Scientist” by Coldplay has also been recognized by the Downbeat Student Awards in 2023. Jerry completed his Master’s in jazz composition at the nationally renowned University of Northern Colorado. His compositions and arrangements were regularly featured in concerts by the top big band, studio orchestras, and vocal jazz ensembles. He has also worked as an arranger-for-hire for various situations, including cruise ships and music preparation. As an educator, Jerry regularly teaches lessons online and in person. He has been teaching private lessons on the guitar, piano, theory, and composition for more than 3 years, in Antigonish, NS, and Boulder, CO. Jerry’s students came from diverse backgrounds. Jerry also serves as a graduate assistant at UNC, assisting students in jazz and arranging courses, and events from the jazz department. In 2023 February, Jerry premiered his first multi-movement composition for jazz large ensemble, Lost City. This piece is about the city Jerry once called home, which has become a place that can no longer be recognizable to him. The feeling of frustration, mystery, anger, and loneliness, was portrayed through the journey of the three-part arrangement.