The Walters Elementary Fifth Grade Music class had a virtual field trip via Zoom given by Cameron University Professor Dr. Hyunsoon Whang on Tuesday, May 5th. Dr. Whang played selections from “Prelude and Fugue in C-Sharp Major” by Johann Sebastian Bach, “Sonata in A Major, K. 331” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, “Sonata in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27 No. 2” by Ludwig van Beethoven and Prelude in A-flat Major, Op. 28 No.17 by Frederic Chopin. Elementary Music Teacher Denise Tulloh arranged for the students to attend the concert with help from Fifth Grade Teachers Colette Dyke and Jackie Myers. The students were originally going to travel to Cameron University to attend the concert. With the recent Covid 19 quarantines, that was no longer possible. Dr. Whang and Mrs. Tulloh collaborated on the idea of a virtual concert so the students would not miss this opportunity.
Born in Seoul Korea, Hyunsoon Whang began her piano studies at the age of four and started playing public concerts at age twelve. Since then she has delighted audiences in more than 500 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.”
Dr. 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 studied piano with Gyorgy Sebok, Michele Block, Joseph Kalichstein, Clifton Matthews, Jung-joo Oh and Soo-jung Shin, and she has studied the harpsichord with Maryse Carlin and chamber music with Michael Tree and Felix Galimir. She has been on the faculty at Cameron University since 1992 and was named the McMahon Endowed Chair in Music in 2006. Her first solo album of Chopin Nocturnes was released in February, 2018 on SonaBLAST Records.
We were in awe of Dr. Whang’s performance and interactive teaching style. This concert was certainly a treat for all, kudos to Dr. Whang for her commitment to public education.