Sharon Choa is the Artistic Director of Chamber Orchestra Anglia (COA) which she founded in 2001 as an initiative to draw together cultural, creative and academic strengths in the UK and particularly in the East Anglia region. She is also Director of Performance at the University of East Anglia.

COA's orchestral programming aims to elucidate music through other disciplines (artistic as well as scientific) and elements of life. Thus far, programmes have been concerned with reflections on the passage of time (through Haydn, Brahms and Schoenberg); included ideas that embrace wit and theatre (with narrations by Griff Rhys Jones); incorporated the celebration of oriental poetry (in a world premiere of Mahler's 'Das Lied von der Erde' sung in Chinese); and matching the concept of musical creation with that of genetics and the construction of the gene. Every concert aims to provoke thoughts and stimulate creative understanding of the respective art/scientific forms, and life. In such a way, COA seeks to steer the mode of concertising from pure entertainment to 'education' and intellectual stimulation.

In 2003, Sharon has initiated coCOA - a Young Musicians' Scheme for talented young musicians aged 11-25. coCOA's activities focusses on educating young instrumentalists in challenging orchestral workshops. COA's patron Sir Colin Davis will be directing one of such forthcoming events. The hope is to raise the standard of musical endeavour of young musicians in the East Anglia region to a national and international level by creating its own high-level training ground for motivated and committed youngsters. We believe that appropriate forms of nurturing and challenge will stretch young talents beyond what they imagine they can achieve and encourage them to aim for higher and higher goals.

Sharon was trained at the Royal Academy of Music as a violinist and holds B.Mus. and Ph.D degrees from King's College London. Apart from conducting, she is also active in academic research, particularly in the music of Haydn and Martinu. Her most recent project deals with the subject of 'East meets West' - an exploration of the influence of Chinese culture on western music. Sharon was born in Hong Kong and grew up in a bilingual and multi-cultural environment. This has been a stimulus for her latest research and performance ideas.