Myung-wha Chung (born 19 March 1944) is a

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

Biography

Myung-wha Chung was born in 1944 in Seoul,

Japanese Korea Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Joseon Korea had come into the Japanese sphere of influence with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876; a complex coalition of the Meiji government, military, and business offici ...

(today

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

), to a musical family. Her younger sister is the violinist

Kyung-wha Chung Kyung Wha Chung (born 26 March 1948) is a South Korean violinist. Early years and education Kyung Wha Chung was born in Seoul as the middle of the seven children in her family. Her father was an exporter, and her mother ran a restaurant. She b ...

, and her younger brother is the pianist/conductor Myung-whun Chung. She finished her high school studies at the

Seoul Arts High School Seoul Arts High School (Hangul: 서울예술고등학교), also known by the Korean-language abbreviation (Hangul: 예고), is a private arts high school located within Pyeongchang-dong, Jongno District, in Seoul, South Korea. History Seoul Art ...

, and made her debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, before continuing her studies in the USA. She was a pupil of

Leonard Rose Leonard Joseph Rose (July 27, 1918 – November 16, 1984) was an American cellist and pedagogue. Biography Rose was born in Washington, D.C.; his parents were Jewish immigrants, his father from Bragin, Belarus, and his mother from Kyiv, ...

at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

between 1961 and 1965. Following that, she then studied with

Gregor Piatigorsky Gregor Piatigorsky (, ''Grigoriy Pavlovich Pyatigorskiy''; August 6, 1976) was a Russian Empire-born American cellist. Biography Early life Gregor Piatigorsky was born in Ekaterinoslav (now Dnipro, Ukraine) into a Jewish family. As a child, ...

at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

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between 1965 and 1968. She made her U.S. concert debut in San Francisco in 1969, and her European debut at Spoleto, Italy, in 1969. In that same year, she also had the honor of performing at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

. In 1971, she won the

Geneva International Music Competition The Geneva International Music Competition () is one of the world's leading international music competitions, founded in 1939. In 1957, it was one of the founding members of the World Federation of International Music Competition (WFIMC), whose he ...

(cello division). Besides her international concert career as a soloist, playing with the world's leading conductors and orchestras, she also plays chamber music partnering her siblings as the

Chung Trio The Chung Trio is a piano trio consisting of Korean siblings. The trio consists of Myung-whun Chung, who plays the piano, Kyung-wha Chung, who plays the violin, and Myung-wha Chung, who plays the cello. The trio performed a program at the Carnegie ...

. Her cello is the 1731 "Braga" Stradivarius.

Teaching

She is professor of cello at

Mannes College of Music Mannes School of Music is a music conservatory in The New School, a private research university in New York City. In the fall of 2015, Mannes moved from its previous location on Manhattan's Upper West Side to join the rest of the New School cam ...

in New York, and head of the cello faculty at the Korea National University of Arts, the School of Music in Seoul.

Awards

*San Francisco Symphony Award, 1967 *First Prize (cello), Geneva International Music Competition, 1971 *National Order of Cultural Merit, South Korea, 1992 *Excellence 2000 Award ("for outstanding contribution to American society in the field of music"), US Pan-Asian Chamber of Commerce

Discography

Myung-wha Chung has recorded for the major classical music labels, both as a soloist and as the Chung Trio. Her highlight recordings include: *Beethoven – Piano Trios (EMI, 1994, reissued 2007) *Beethoven – Archduke Trio (Deutsche Grammophon, 1998) *Brahms/Mendelssohn – Piano Trios (Decca, 1995) *Tchaikovsky – Rococo Variations. With the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Charles Dutoit. (Decca, SXL 6955 (411 210–1)

Extra-musical activities

Goodwill Ambassador Goodwill ambassador is a post-nominal honorific title, a professional occupation and/or authoritative designation that is assigned to a person who advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of their notability such as a public ...

for the UN Drug Control Program (

UNDCP The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC; French: ''Office des Nations unies contre la drogue et le crime'') is a United Nations office that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the ...

), appointed 1992 *Goodwill Ambassador for

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

in Korea *Special envoy for the City of Seoul

External links

Myung-wha Chung biography, 3rd Busan Music Festival Program
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chung, Myung-Wha 1944 births Living people South Korean classical cellists South Korean women classical cellists USC Thornton School of Music alumni Recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit (Korea) Winners of the Geneva International Music Competition Mannes College The New School for Music faculty Juilliard School alumni