Dr. Sukyung Yang

Sukyung Yang is an Assistant Professor of Piano at Hampton University, where she teaches applied piano, class piano, and sacred music courses. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa, where her secondary area of study included organ; a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from Western Illinois University; and a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from Gachon University in South Korea.

As a soloist and collaborative pianist, Dr. Yang has performed throughout the United States, South Korea, and Germany. Her professional activities have included appearances at the Montecito International Music Festival and the Aruba Symphony Festival. In 2023, she received the top prize in collaborative performance at the Southard Music Competition at the University of Northern Colorado. Her work encompasses solo performance, collaborative piano, pedagogy, and scholarship.

Dr. Yang is committed to exploring and promoting music by historically neglected composers, with particular emphasis on women composers and composers from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Through performance, teaching, and scholarship, she seeks to bring greater visibility to voices that have been underrepresented in classical music while maintaining a strong engagement with the masterworks of the Western classical tradition.

In addition to her work as a pianist and educator, Dr. Yang brings professional experience in sacred and church music. She served as Music Director at Harmony Presbyterian Church and has additional music ministry experience in Baptist, Methodist, and Episcopal settings. Her responsibilities have included worship planning, congregational hymn accompaniment, choir and handbell choir direction, repertoire selection, and collaboration with clergy and other musicians. These experiences have provided her with practical knowledge of diverse worship traditions, hymnody, liturgical practices, and approaches to sacred accompaniment.

At Hampton University, Dr. Yang draws upon her experience as a pianist, educator, collaborative musician, and church musician to prepare students for solo and collaborative performance, advanced musical study, and music ministry in sacred and liturgical settings.