Jung Sun Kang - Summer 2021 Resident
Described as “beautiful, ethereal and heartfelt” (Kapravola Society Journal), Jung Sun Kang’s music seeks a balance between wild imaginations from many different cultures and a firm belief in classical music’s structural tradition.
Her music has been commissioned by Fromm New Music Players, Brave New Works, Shakespeare and Company, fivebyfive, and the Howard Hanson Institute for American Music, among many others. Jung Sun has received awards from Wildacres, PlySpace, Faber Residency, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, Willapa Bay, New York Council on the Arts, New Music USA, British Harpsichord Society, as well as Leonard Bernstein Fellowship from Tanglewood Music Center. Her music has been programmed at festivals such as International Carillon in Bruges, Summer @ Eastman, Cambridge Music and Math and Women in Music. Her music is recorded on the ArtistShare, Centaur, Delos, University of Chicago and Prima Facie labels.
An avid performer of early and new music, Jung Sun Kang has given concerts in US, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia. She has given world-premiere performances of music written by Robert Morris, Carlos Sanchez-Guiterrez, Juan Trigos, and many more. Since relocating to New York City in 2013, she has been performing at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Yale Club, Manhattan School of Music, Shapeshifter Lab, as well as Duane Park in a part of TriBeCa Art + Culture Night, to name a few.
Jung Sun began her piano studies at age three, and started writing music when she was seventeen. Her curiosity and passion about Bach’s music led her into studying harpsichord and continuo playing as well. She received a BM (summa cum laude) from Ewha University in her native country South Korea and a doctorate from the Eastman School of Music, where she taught and also served as a pianist of the Eastman Musica Nova Ensemble and OSSIA New Music. She also holds an Artist Diploma degree from McGill University, where she received the Schulich Scholarship. Her current interests include music written by composers/pianists, conductor-less chamber music and jazz. She resides on the Upper West Side.
During her residency, Jung Sun gave an artist talk and piano recital titled “First Sonatas”. For “First Sonatas”Jung Sun performed the First Movement of Piano Sonata No.1 by composers Carl Vine and Nikolai Kapustin, as well as premiered the composition completed while in residency at PlySpace this summer. Predominantly written by pianists who are composers, the first piano sonata often marks the beginning of the mid-career and works as an inspiration to bigger works. Kang discussed the fascinating tradition of sonata writing, why there are so few piano sonatas written by women, and why she believes classical music is relevant, now more than ever. MuncieArts would like to thank collaborative partner, Cornerstone Center for the Arts for hosting this event.
“First Sonatas”, the artist talk and piano recital featuring PlySpace Artist in Residence, Jung Sun Kang, took place in the E.B. Ball Auditorium of Cornerstone Center for the Arts on Friday, August 27, from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. “First Sonatas” served as the world premiere of Kang’s sonata composed while at the PlySpace Artist Residency in Muncie. This event was free and open to the public, all ages welcomed.
Check out her profile on Spotify.
