Dr. Melody Quah

Biography

Described as having 'poet titanium fingers' by Vancouver Sun, Malaysian pianist Melody Quah has performed extensively across Asia, Europe, Australia, and North America. Her multifaceted career spans solo and collaborative performances, chamber music, education, adjudication, and artistic direction. Quah is a prizewinner of the 7th International Paderewski Competition held in Bydgoszcz, Poland, and has performed at prestigious venues including Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre. She has appeared as a soloist with orchestras internationally, including the Ku-Ring-Gai Symphony and the Central Coast Symphony in Australia, and ensembles in Canada and the United States such as the Vancouver Philharmonic and Penn’s Woods Festival Orchestra. A native of Malaysia, Quah has performed with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra at the Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS. She has premiered more than a dozen works by living composers, with commissioned works for solo piano from artists across Asia and beyond. Quah is currently an Assistant Professor of Piano at Penn State University, where she also serves as faculty for the Euro Arts Festival in Poland. In addition to her performance career, she has presented masterclasses in various institutions worldwide and contributes regularly to professional organizations such as the Music Teachers National Association. Quah holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, and graduate degrees from the Yale School of Music and The Juilliard School. She is a Yamaha Artist.

Research Interests