Serene Koh

Serene is a concert pianist with an unconventional background: despite never attending a conservatory, she performs on stages around the world, is a Bösendorfer artist, and her solo performances have been described as a “show worthy of the New York Philharmonic” (Paris Review).

Recently, she presented her Bösendorfer debut at the Vienna Konzerthaus, performing two piano concertos in the same evening (by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin). Alongside a broad orchestral repertoire with major ensembles, Serene has collaborated with artists across different genres: she was a composer for Kanye West’s opera project, presented at Lincoln Center and Art Basel, and has worked with Grimes on projects combining piano with innovative musical technologies, including EEG (electroencephalogram) integration with live generative visuals.

Before her musical career, Serene worked in computer science: she is a former Google engineer, former senior researcher at the Berkeley ICSI, and creator of several open-source projects, including the censorship circumvention protocol Snowflake. In 2022, this work became crucial during the war in Ukraine, enabling communication despite internet blocks, with a global impact on internet freedom. From this, she founded her technology company Snowstorm, an evolution of Snowflake, which she leads alongside her concert career.

Serene’s work has been featured in publications such as Forbes, WIRED, TechRadar, and Fast Company. In just a few years since transitioning from technology, she has developed a disciplined, personal, and spiritual approach to music. She enjoys sharing the beauty and power of classical music with all kinds of audiences and, thanks to her ability to bridge disciplines and “enchant audiences,” she has built an international following.