Joshua Kohl
CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, Degenerate Art Ensemble

Composer, Conductor and Performer
Joshua Kohl is a Founder, Conductor, Composer and Co-Director for Degenerate Art Ensemble, a Seattle-based music and multi art performance company. Under his direction, DAE has become a leader in contemporary performance in the Northwest. His compositions have included works for dance, silent film, concert ensembles, classico-punk-big-band and street performances - always striving to expand the possibilities of multi media art. His latest work has also involved designing and performing new types of acoustic instruments.

Kohl attended the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music (Boston, MA) and received a BA in Composition from Cornish College of the Arts (Seattle, WA). He has studied composition with internationally renowned composers Bright Sheng, Bern Herbolsheimer, and Jarad Powell. Kohl received a fellowship from Artist Trust in 1998, and has been awarded commissions from Seattle Arts Commission, King County Arts Commission, Washington State Arts Commission, On The Boards and the Nesholm Family Foundation.

Kohl's compositions have been performed extensively throughout the US as well as the Netherlands, Italy, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Italy and Germany with the support of Arts International Fund for US Artists.

Additionally, Kohl’s Concerto For Clarinet and Orchestra was premiered by the Northwest Symphony in 2000. He has also released 6 cds including a release on Unit Circle Rekkids and a coming release on Tellous Records in November of this year.

In November 2003, his score for DAE’s most recent physical/dance theater work, Dreams from Wounded Mouth, was presented in Germany, Slovenia and Poland. Kohl performs regularly throughout Europe, including performances in Czech Republic, Netherlands, France, Slovakia and Italy. His latest composition for dance was performed in New York City at The Cave, at the Tamescal Art Center in Oakland and at the Industrial Performance Project in Seattle. He was part of a collaborative commission from Meet The Composer’s Commissioning Music USA program for 2005 - with a premiere at The Stone in New York.