Music, Theatre, Dance Faculty & Staff

Cho

Sookkyung

choso@gvsu.edu

Piano, Associate Professor

www.sookkyungcho.com

1225 The Haas Center for Performing Arts

616-331-2571

Dr. Sookkyung Cho 
Associate Professor of Piano, Artist Performer

Bachelor of Music: The Juilliard School
Master of Music: The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University
Doctor of Musical Arts: The Juilliard School

Noted for her “sensitive and imaginative” (New York Concert Review) playing, Korean-born pianist Sookkyung Cho has been captivating worldwide audiences with her personal, thoughtful expressionist style. She has appeared in venues such as Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, Sarasota Opera House, Baltimore Museum of Art, Montreal Conservatory, Beaux concerts de la releve in Quebec, Canada, Xi'an Conservatory, Zhejiang University in China, and Château de Fontainebleau in France, among others, and was recently heard on Chicago’s WFMT.  

A founding member of the New York-based Almava trio, Dr. Cho has also been featured in major music festivals including Yellow Barn, Norfolk, and Sarasota, and was a Performing Associate at Bowdoin International Music Festival in Maine. A seasoned adjudicator, she has judged Osaka International Music Competition China Regional Preliminary Round, University of Michigan Concerto Competition, New England Conservatory Preparatory School for its Concerto Competition Finals, Walnut Hill School for the Arts Honors Chamber Music auditions, MMTA Concerto Competition, MMTA SAT state final, and many others. She has also taught piano and chamber music faculty at NEC Preparatory in Boston, theory at Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and piano for the LINKS Signature Arts Program at The Juilliard School in New York. Her students have been accepted toprestigious music programs, such as the graduate program at the University of Michigan and the Orford Music Academy in Canada, and have placed in numerous competitions including St. Cecilia Music Center's Concerto and Scholarship Competitions, Grand Rapids Youth Symphony Competition, and Michigan Music Teachers Association's Student Achievement Testing.  

Dr. Cho earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Juilliard, where she was honored with John Erskine Graduation prize for "an exceptional level of scholastic and artistic achievement" and a Master of Music degree from Peabody as a full graduate assistantship recipient, where she also received Grace Clagett Ranney Prize in Chamber Music. She earned her terminal degree, Doctor of Musical Arts, from Juilliard as a C. V. Starr Doctoral Fellow, where she also taught as a teaching fellow both in Piano Minor and Literature and Materials departments. Her teachers include Boris Slutsky, Julian Martin, Matti Raekallio, and Jonathan Bass. Associate Professor of Piano, Artist-Performer at Grand Valley State University, Dr. Cho has also served on faculty at InterHarmony Music Festival in Italy, ESME String Virtual Camp, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan during the summer.