Koch studied at the
Royal College of Music. He has served as the musical supervisor for numerous productions, including
Cats,
Moby Dick,
Chicago,
Blondel,
Follies, and
Into the Woods in the
West End; several international tours of
Les Misérables; and the United Kingdom tour of
Martin Guerre. He was the musical director of the
1998 Eurovision Song Contest, the final edition of the contest to date with a full orchestra present. Koch conducted the
BBC Concert Orchestra for the intro music, the interval act "Jupiter, the Bringer of Joviality," and the
French entry, "
Où aller" by
Marie Line, which initially was performed entirely to a backing track before the decision was made to incorporate the orchestra's string section. Thus, although it saved Koch from being one of the handful of Eurovision musical directors who didn't actually conduct any competing entry, he also didn't take the customary conductor's bow prior to the French performance. Koch has recorded numerous albums, including
Les Misérables: The Complete Symphonic Recording and original cast recordings of
Hey, Mr. Producer!,
Oliver!, and
Miss Saigon. He and collaborator Nick Gilpin own and operate a music production company that has been responsible for numerous television programs and several recordings, including
Jerry Springer: The Opera. ==References==