Melody Quah
- Assistant Professor, Piano
202 Music Building II
- Email mquah@psu.edu
- Phone (814) 863-4401
Biography
Described as a “poet with titanium fingers” by the Vancouver Sun, Melody Quah has performed extensively on stages across Asia, Europe, Australia, and North America, as well as her native Malaysia. Quah’s music career encompasses a wide range of activities—soloist, recitalist, collaborative pianist, chamber musician, educator, adjudicator, masterclass clinician, and music director.
A prizewinner of the 7th International Paderewski Competition held in Bydgoszcz, Poland, she has appeared in recital at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, and as chamber musician at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre. Quah has soloed with the Ku-Ring-Gai Symphony and Central Coast Symphony Orchestras in Australia, the Pomeranian Philharmonic in Poland, and the Richmond Philharmonic, Academy Philharmonic, Vancouver Philharmonic, West Coast Symphony and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras in Canada, as well as the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.
Quah is also a proponent of diversifying the piano repertoire. She has commissioned and premiered pieces by Adeline Wong and Tazul Tajuddin (Malaysia); Parisa Sabet (Iran/Canada); and has ongoing collaborations with composers Sidney Boquiren (Philippines), Marisa Hartanto (Indonesia) and Piyawat Louilarpprasert (Thailand).
Quah currently serves as Assistant Professor of Piano at the Pennsylvania State University. She recently served as Artist Faculty at the Nanyang International Piano Academy festival (Singapore). She has presented masterclasses at University Sedaya College International and Universiti Teknologi MARA (Malaysia), at Medan Musik School (Indonesia), and for institutions throughout the USA. She has also given masterclasses and lectures to students and teachers at the Canadian Yamaha Summer Camps in Toronto and Vancouver. She is an active adjudicator and presenter for the Music Teachers National Association and College Music Society. She currently serves as Vice President of the Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association (PMTA) and co-conference chair for the 2025 PMTA conference.
Quah earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University as well as graduate degrees from the Yale School of Music and The Juilliard School. She received her Bachelor of Music from the Vancouver Academy of Music and completed her high school education at the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney. Quah’s principal teachers included Boris Slutsky, Peter Frankl, Matti Raekallio, Lee Kum Sing, and Snezana Panovska.
Quah is a Yamaha Artist.