Lily Koslow is a Montréal-based composer, pianist, and vocalist whose music explores the tension between delicate timbral nuance and visceral intensity. Influenced by surrealist literature and a wide spectrum of electronic music, their work combines vivid gestures and intricate textures into immersive sonic worlds which are governed by their own internal logic. Lily’s music has been described as “masterful…surfing between mysticism and exaltation” (Ludwig Van Montréal). Deeply engaged with mixed and electroacoustic media, Lily has undertaken residencies with the Yale Center for Collaborative Arts and Media (New Haven), Le Vivier / Ukrainian Association of Electroacoustic Music (Paris), the Akademie der Künste (Berlin), and McGill Percussion Ensemble (Montréal).

Relishing creativity through collaboration, Lily works closely with performers to discover unique playing techniques and weave them into an expressive musical discourse. Their most recent projects include the creation of new pieces for Quatuor Bozzini, Ensemble Éclat, Quatuor Mémoire, and Yale Cellos. They have also collaborated with members of Talea Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, Divertimento Ensemble, Attacca Quartet, Ensemble Paramirabo, and Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, including collaborations with conductors Vimbayi Kaziboni, Ezra Calvino, and Charles-Eric Fontaine. Lily’s music has been presented at festivals including the Composers Conference, Soundstreams, International Divertimento Ensemble Academy, SoundSCAPE, and Domaine Forget International Festival.

Lily studied composition at McGill University (B.M.) and the Yale School of Music (M.M.), where they worked with Jean Lesage, Katherine Balch, David Lang, Martin Bresnick, and Aaron Jay Kernis. They have been honored with prizes including the 2026 Cortona Prize, 2024 Harriet Gibbs Fox Prize of Yale School of Music, 2022 Luba Zuk Piano Duo Composition Prize, and John Rea Travel Award in Composition.

As a pianist, soprano, and performer of electronic music, Lily has premiered new works by composers Luke Haaksma, Justin Zeitlinger, Jules Bastin-Fontaine, and Erich Barganier, as well as their own compositions.

Logo by Lila Wildy Quillin. Photo by Tam Photography.