Musician

The flute is my tool for connection. I perform as a freelance orchestral flutist throughout central Florida and in my home state of Wisconsin. I thrive on collaboration and working across disciplines making new work for the stage. More than this, I am a mother, a mover, a teacher and a podcast creator.

bio

Emma Koi is a musician, collaborator and educator working as an orchestra and chamber flutist in Central Florida and in her home state of Wisconsin. She is Principal Flute of Festival City Symphony and is a substitute musician with Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Brevard Symphony Orchestra, The Florida Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra. She previously served as Third Flute/Piccolo of the Florida Grand Opera. Emma is an alum of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, where she had the privilege of working closely with Judd and Joyce Green Creative Consultant Yo-Yo Ma on community engagement projects throughout Chicago. 

In 2012, Emma Koi co-founded multi-disciplinary ensemble Cadance Collective with choreographer Christal Wagner and cellist Alicia Storin. Cadance Collective treats choreography and composition as equal tools in creating new work for the stage. Emma has also collaborated as a multidisciplinary artist with Present Music, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Danceworks MKE, Wildspace Dance Company, Aperi Animam, Amanda Schoofs and Anna Clyne. As a chamber musician, she has worked with Milwaukee Musaik, Frankly Music, and Access Contemporary Music, L + M Duo, and on many recital projects with colleagues.

Ms. Koi is Adjunct Professor of Flute at Seminole State College of Florida, and previously served on the faculty at Carroll University, Mount Mary University and Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, teaching lessons in flute and courses in movement for musicians. Her students have won top awards in competitions for the Wisconsin Flute Festival, Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra and Civic Music Association competitions. She holds a Master of Music from Carnegie Mellon University and Bachelors degrees in music and dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her teachers include Alberto Almarza, Jeanne Baxtresser and Caen Thomason-Redus. 

Emma Koi lives in Central Florida with her husband and two young children. She is a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) and is the founder of Mother Maker, a podcast and online magazine featuring interviews with artists who are mothers. 

  • Mozart Concerto in G Major
    Festival City Symphony
    2015

    photo: Lindsay Jones

  • Nagahara Flute

  • Utterance
    Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Aperi Animam, Amanda Schoofs, Cadance Collective
    Milwaukee 2019

  • harpist Erin Brooker-Miller
    Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum

  • with composer Libby Larsen

  • Flute, Piano & Chocolate
    Pianist Marianne Parker with Katherine Anne Confections, Chicago

  • Built on Change
    L+M Duo with Cadance Collective
    Wrigley Building, Chicago

  • Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra
    Colleen Blagov and Claudia White, flutes

  • Summer Flute Camp at Wisconsin Conservatory of Music

  • Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall with Jeanne Baxtresser, Mimi Tachouet and Jennifer Bouton Schaub

  • Yo-Yo Ma with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago

Photo credit: Christal Wagner

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