IRENE KOC

Irene was a student of Dr. Julia Lam from 2003 to 2016 when she graduated from the Bridgewater- Raritan High School. While under Dr. Lam’s remarkable tutelage, Irene received multiple First Place awards in the NJ Music Educators Association (MEA), NJ Music Teachers Association (NJMTA) Composer Commissioned Competition, NJMTA Young Musician’s Competitions, Steinway Society Piano competition and Princeton Festival Piano Competition, Cecilian Young Artist Competition, Crescendo International Competition, the National Young Musicians Showcase Competition and the National Young Musicians Chamber Music and Ensemble Competition, resulting in performances at Alice Tully Hall of Lincoln Center, Zankel Hall and Weill Hall of Carnegie Hall, Grace Rainey Rodgers auditorium in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Merkin Hall of Kauffman Center in New York City, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the Hubay Jenő Music School and the Rózsavölgyi Márk Arts School in Budapest, Hungary. Most notably, Irene won both the First Prize and Chinese Prize awards in the International Young Artists Piano Competition resulting in a performance at John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and a feature on the WQXR Public Radio McGraw Hill’s Young Artist Broadcast in February 2016. Irene was also a two-time MTNA Senior Duet National Finalist in the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 season, after having won both the Eastern Division and NJ State Competitions. She was also an Honorable Mention Winner in the NJ MTNA Senior Piano Competition in 2015 and 2013. In addition, Irene has played in master classes with Veda Kaplinsky of Julliard, Douglas Humphreys of Eastman School of Music, Phillip Kawin of Manhattan School of Music, Thomas Schumacher from Eastman School of Music, Larissa Dedova from the University of Maryland, Victor Rosenbaum from the New England Conservatory of Music, and professional duo Dallas Weekley and Nancy Arganbright.

In 2020, Irene graduated with honors from Duke University with a Bachelor’s of Science in neuroscience and received a graduation with distinction award and Bass Connections research award for her research on the intersections of Alzheimer’s Disease, exercise, and menopause. During her time at Duke, she continued to nurture her love for piano by performing for patients at the Duke University Cancer Center and the Durham Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, as well as serving as musical worship leader at the Duke InterVarsity Fellowship campus ministry. In the summer of 2017, Irene received funding from the DukeEngage Program to travel to Zhuhai, China to create and teach music and arts curriculum to middle school students with a mission to integrate and promote arts inclusion/cross-cultural education.

Irene is currently a third year medical student at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Irene helped pioneer the first Rutgers Student Vaccine Clinic, which provided vaccines to the underserved community in New Brunswick and was able to vaccinate over six-thousand community members. She also serves as the executive of community outreach for the Student Vaccine Clinic with a mission to provide vaccine education and address vaccine hesitancy in the local community. Irene would like to thank Dr. Lam for imbuing a resilient work ethic and passion for piano that has given her the invaluable ability to express herself and serve others.