New musical frontiers with Emily Koh

Composer Emily Koh, associate professor in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, typically creates new emotional textures and moods in 24-pitch increments. Her work with two pianos dictated this constraint, an approach she stuck with for a long time. When she decided to explore music beyond 24 pitches, however, she knew she needed a new solution.

Working with partners in the College of Engineering, Koh created ModμMIDI, a modular MIDI device with removable keys and polychromatic design to indicate the many microtones available for use. The device is expandable, offering the ability to combine four banks of 30 keys to a head unit, giving users the option to use between 30-120 keys.

The creative design helped the project receive a judges’ commendation from the 2025 Guthman Musical Instrument Competition.

Learn more about Koh and her work in the video above and hear the instrument itself at the Guthman competition in the video provided by UGA Research Communications exploring her collaboration with engineering.

Image: video still from Guthman 2025 – Performance featuring ModuMIDI, Emily Koh, right, with Deisha Oliver (cello).