Hyunsoon Whang

About Hyunsoon

About Hyunsoon

Korean American pianist Hyunsoon Whang is an active performer and a dedicated teacher. She is Professor of Piano at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma where she holds the McMahon Endowed Chair in Music. Whang has delighted audiences in hundreds of concerts across North America, Europe, and Asia. Critics have praised her as "the kind of player who appears to immerse her entire being in the music," and as one who has "always delivered with grace and beauty."

She has appeared as a soloist with Leonard Slatkin, Joel Revzen, Miriam Burns, Jon Kalbfleisch and Nicholas Harsanyi. Her live videos have been featured on PBS television stations throughout the Midwest. In 2018, her solo album Chopin Nocturnes and a chamber music album titled Mozart, Schubert and Brahms were released on sonaBLAST! label. Whang serves on the Touring Artists Roster of the Oklahoma Arts Council and the Mid-America Arts Alliance’s Artist Roster.

A passionate educator, Whang has taught and nurtured generations of students. Her students have won state and national competitions, and garnered scholarships and fellowships from prestigious institutions. She presents interactive recitals for public school children every year, fostering the love of music for young people. She is a recipient of the Oklahoma Governor’s Arts in Education Award. Whang studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts, the St. Louis Conservatory, The Juilliard School, and she earned a doctorate from Indiana University under the tutelage of legendary pianist György Sebők.

Besides playing and teaching piano, she enjoys being a virtual mom to her daughter Courtney, spoiling her pitbull rescue Callie, practicing yoga, and watching baseball.

Teaching anyone, especially young people, is a privilege. I always look forward to each lesson with my students, meeting them at a place where they are during that particular hour as pianists and persons. My short term goal is to give them the tools they need to succeed—technique, musicality, imagination, knowledge, and grits. My long term goal and true hope for all my students is that they will lead meaningful, fulfilling lives as accomplished musicians and compassionate human beings—making a difference in our world.