On Saturday’s broadcast, we feature 18-year-old pianist Derek Chung of Lincolnshire, Illinois. Derek is an incoming freshman at Stanford University, and he currently studies piano with Sueanne Metz. Derek’s recent accomplishments include the Grand Prize Winner at the Chicago International Music Competition, first place at the MTNA National Senior Piano Competition, Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition, MostArts Festival Piano Competition, Future Stars International Competition, Luminarts Cultural Foundation for Classical Music, the American Fine Arts International Concerto Competition, and the Los Angeles Young Musician International Piano Competition where he was awarded the overall Best Romantic Performance. He was a prize winner at the Aloha International, Bradshaw & Buono International, and the Crain-Maling Chicago Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competitions. He is a two-time bronze medal winner at Seattle International Piano Festival Competition where he additionally received the teachers’ favorite award and the President’s Youth Prize for Best Chopin performance.
Derek has had the honor of performing in musical venues such as the historic Sala dei Notari in Perugia (Italy), Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Bennett-Gordon Hall at Ravinia, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York. He has given public performances with the South Carolina Philharmonic, the MostArts Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra of the University of Alicante, live on Kansas Public Radio, and the Shining Stars Concert as part of the Music Festival of Perugia. Derek is a co-founder of 88Keys to Cure, a non-profit organization promoting classical music for the benefit of various causes.
Listen to the entire program and enjoy videos from his performances below.