Jihye Chang – View biography here
Pianist Jihye Chang enjoys a diverse career as a performer, educator, scholar, and advocate for new music in the United States and abroad. Her recent credits as a soloist include the world premiere of Robert Aldridge’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Brevard Sinfonia as well as solo engagements with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Fargo Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, Virtuosi of Festival Internacionale de Musica in Recife (Brazil), and New Mexico State University Philharmonic. She has also appeared on the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, Blue Candlelight Music Series in Dallas, Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chamber Series, Piccolo Spoletto Charleston, Old First Concert Series of San Francisco, Ilshin Hall and Kumho Art Center in Seoul, and Tuesday Concert Series at Seoul National University. She has shared the stage with renowned musicians such as Chee-Yun, Frank Cohen, Andrés Diaz, Anton Kuerti, Inbal Segev, and Richard Young, among others. She is a recipient of the Henry Kohn Award from the Tanglewood Music Center, an Honorary Fellowship from the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, the Aaron Copland Recording Grant, and first prize of the Mikhashoff International Pianist-Composer Competition.
Her recordings can be found on labels including Sony/BMG Korea, Albany, Centaur, and Ravello/Parma. Her most recent recording project is with clarinetist Jon Holden on duo works for clarinet and piano by American composers. She has appeared in music festivals such as Virtuosi X Festival and Festival Inverno de Garanhuns in Brazil, Orleans Festival in France, Nuevo Mundo Festival y Academy in Aruba, and Lowcountry Chamber Music Festival. As a dedicated performer and a researcher of contemporary music, Chang has premiered over forty solo and chamber works, many of which were composed for her. She has been invited to new music festivals and series at Studio 2021 Seoul National University, University of Louisville, Ball State University, and Brandeis University, and has led residencies with young composers at UCLA, Tulane University, and Indiana University Southeast. Her specialty is piano etudes, and she has given recitals and lectures on this topic in various institutions and festivals, including the successful collaboration with the BMC composition students, “BMC Etude Project,” since 2016.
Chang is currently in the midst of solo piano project entitled “Boston Etudes,” which started during the pandemic year 2020. Another solo project began in 2016 is “Continuum 88,” an exploration of the solo piano literature in collaboration with young composers from Australia, Korea, and U.S.A., with concerts in Korea, Taiwan, and various venues in the U. S. A. The program for the 2018-2019 season focused on fantasies, and she led a short residency at University of Alabama-Huntsville as well as a guest artist concert at Georgia State College and Lipscomb University. In 2019-2020, she presented concerts focusing on miniatures and variations, with concerts in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boston. Another solo piano program that means a lot to her is a program of living women composers, which she has presented at UC Berkeley and TCU, Boston Conservatory.
She is a dedicated educator of young performers and the next generation of music audience. She has been working with the Rosemary Beach foundation, FL, since 2011 on an interdisciplinary project “Music in Pictures,” with hundreds of students K through 12 in Walton County, in which students listen to classical music and create art works. During 2020 Chang reached over 300 students via virtual presentations.
In her piano instructions she focuses on the efficiency of physical ability on the piano as well as deep understanding of the rich history and literature. In January 2019 she launched “Piano Intensive at the Brevard Music Center,” an immersive course on piano techniques, practice and performance strategies, and injury prevention. She has presented lectures and workshops on these topics in various institutions, including Vanderbilt University Pre-College Program, Charleston Academy of Music and Douglas Anderson High School Jacksonville. During the summer of 2020, the intensive workshop was held virtually with guest artists David Kalhous, Conrad Tao, and Steven Spooner.
Chang graduated from Seoul National University, where she received the President’s Award, and earned her Master’s and Doctorate degrees from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music under the tutelage of György Sebök, Reiko Neriki, and Edward Auer. Chang served as a Visiting Assistant Professor in 2014 at Florida State University and is a Visiting Assistant Professor in lieu of lecturer since 2012. She is currently a faculty member at the Brevard Music Center and a core member of the Intersection Contemporary Ensemble. Her performance clips of new works can be heard on her Instagram feed @pianojihye, where she also shares her passion for good espresso. Her YouTube channel focuses on her interviews with musicians who are also mothers, piano etudes, and new music by women composers.