OSU to host guest pianist for “Nocturnes and Fantasies”

Friday, March 4, 2016

Guest pianist Hyunsoon Whang will present “Nocturnes and Fantasies,” performing works by Frederic Chopin and Ludwig van Beethoven on Tuesday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m. in the Seretean Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall.

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Whang began her piano studies at the age of four and started playing public concerts at age twelve. Since then, she has delighted audiences during hundreds of concerts across the United States, Canada, 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.”



Whang studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts, the St. Louis Conservatory of Music, The Juilliard School, and earned a doctorate from Indiana University. She has been on the faculty at Cameron University since 1992, and was inducted into the Faculty Hall of Fame in 2004. Named the McMahon Endowed Chair in Music at Cameron in 2006, Whang was honored with the Governor’s Arts in Education Award in 2010.

As a recitalist and a collaborator, Whang has performed at Se-Jong Cultural Center in Seoul, Suntory Recital Hall in Tokyo and Paul Hall in Lincoln Center. She has participated in the Aspen Music Festival, Ravinia Festival Master Classes, Canada's Victoria Music Festival and the Taos School of Music. Whang has appeared as a soloist with Leonard Slatkin, Joel Revzen, Miriam Burns and Nicholas Harsanyi. She was personally invited by Alexis Weissenberg to perform and record his surrealistic musical “Nostalgie,” which was met with critical acclaim in Germany and France.

Whang’s recent engagements have included solo recitals, chamber music concerts and master classes in California, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah and Reykjavik, Iceland. Her live videos from Drury University have been airing on PBS television stations throughout the Midwest. She serves on the Touring Artists Roster of the Oklahoma Arts Council and the Mid-America Arts Alliance's Artist Roster.

As an educator, Whang has nurtured and inspired generations of students of all ages. Her piano students have garnered top prizes at regional and national competitions and received scholarships and fellowships from prestigious institutions. She presents interactive recitals for public school children each year where she relates classical music to other subjects such as history, literature, science and environment. Whang has served as the faculty advisor for Cameron University's Asian Club and the President of Cameron University's Phi Kappa Phi Chapter.

Tickets are available through the Music Department Office at 132 Seretean Center or online at http://marketplace.okstate.edu and are $8 for general admission, and $6 for college students and senior citizens (55 and over). For more information, phone (405) 744-8998.