Faculty Name
Hyunjung Rachel Chung, DMA, M.M.
Title
Chair of Music, Associate Professor, Piano and Theory
Department
Music
Phone
404-270-5497
Office Location
Milligan 2203
Education
D.M.A., Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University
P.S.C., M.M., Mannes College of Music
B.A., Seoul National University
Biography
Celebrated for being the 2020 winner of the American Prize, Korean-American pianist Hyunjung Rachel Chung has paved a multifaceted path as a performer, educator, adjudicator, recording artist and avocational composer. She made her New York solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall in 1996 as a winner of the Artist International Audition. Since then, her solo and collaborative recitals have taken her throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. She has appeared as a performer, presenter, and master teacher in many conferences and music festivals, including World Piano Teachers Association Concert Series, National Music Teachers Association National Conference, College Music Society International Conference, San Giacomo Festival, Grumo Festival, Forty Fingers–Manifestazione Pianistica Internazionale, South Carolina Chamber Music Festival, Arioso Musica Domani International Composition Prize, and Piano at Peabody Workshop.
Dedicated to the music of our time as well as the neglected and forgotten music, she has performed and recorded various piano solo works by women composers in her two award-winning albums in the Studio Jeeb label: "My Cherished Garden: Piano Works by American Women Composers" (2017) and "Three Piano Sonatas by Women Composers" (2018). The American Prize recognized her continuing achievement by naming her the top prize winner of the Ernest Beacon Memorial Award. She has enjoyed collaborations with many instrumentalists and singers. Particularly, she had performed as a member of Eureka Duo from 2014 to 2019 to present chamber music written by women composers. Also, she has frequently shared a stage with her husband and a tenor, Dr. Sungbae Kim.
A devoted educator, Dr. Chung is an associate professor and chair of the department of music at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, where she has been teaching since 2006. Steinway & Sons acknowledged her outstanding endeavors with the 2020 Top Music Teacher Award. Chung earned a bachelor of arts degree in music from Seoul National University, a master of music degree and a professional study diploma from the Mannes College of Music, and a doctor of musical arts degree in piano performance from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Her principal teachers include Kwi Hyun Kim, Arkady Aronov, Boris Slutsky, the late Theodore Lettvin, and Susan Starr.
Courses Taught
MUS 031-038 Private Piano
MUS 490 Senior Project
MUS 123-126 Class Piano
MUS 090 Keyboard Ensemble
Piano Proficiency Exam
MUS 211 Counterpoint
MUS 113B Music Theory II
MUS 113C Music Theory III
MUS 321 Form and Analysis
MUS 452 Introduction to Composition