Faculty Artist Recital: Dr. Sookkyung Cho, piano

Friday, October 16, 2026
7:30 p.m.
Allendale Campus
Alumni, Community, Faculty, Staff, Students

*Reserving free tickets is highly recommended. Please write to Dr. Cho at [email protected] to reserve free tickets. Space is limited to 78.

Program
Schumann, Humoreske, Op. 20
Schubert, Sonata in A major, D. 959

Artist Bio
Korean-American pianist Sookkyung Cho is a fierce advocate of classical music. She has appeared in prestigious 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, Beaux concerts de la releve in Quebec, Château de Fontainebleau in France, and Zijingang Theater at Zhejiang University and Xian Conservatory in China, and Bilkent University in Turkey. She 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.

Sookkyungs debut CD, Schuberts 1817 Sonatas, a work resulting from the continued research from her doctoral dissertation, Schuberts Sonata in B Major, D. 575, Reimagined, was released on Centaur to critical acclaim. The Piano Magazine reviewed, Chos playing is extraordinarily clear, and her pedaling is admirable. Her discography also includes Rediscovery of Three American Composers with violinist Zenas Hsu, Eduard Drizga: Music for Wind Instruments and Piano, and 1 Piano 8 Hands, which was made with her students.

Sookkyung is the Founder and Artistic Director of Grand Valley Piano Chamber Series (www.gvpcs.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing world-class chamber music performances to the West Michigan audience free of charge. On the series, she has collaborated with some of todays most sought-after chamber musicians, such as the Parker Quartet, the Telegraph Quartet, and members of the A Far Cry as well as the Decoda.

As an esteemed pedagogue, Sookkyung has been invited to give masterclasses at various institutions such as Boston University Tanglewood Institute (MA), Chamber Music OC (CA), Gilmore Festivals KeysFest (MI), Fontana Chamber Arts (MI), Bilkent Piano Festival (Turkey), and East China Normal University (China), and adjudicate at major competitions including Osaka International Music Competition (Chinese regional round), Carmel Klavier International Piano Competition (IN), Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition (OH), National Federation of Music Clubs (Young Artist Piano Award), University of Michigan, New England Conservatory Preparatory School, and Walnut Hill School for the Arts.

Sookkyung earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Juilliard, where she was honored with the prestigious John Erskine Graduation Prize, Master of Music degree from Peabody, and Doctor of Musical Arts from Juilliard as a C.V. Starr fellow. She was previously on piano and chamber music faculty at New England Conservatory Preparatory in Boston as well as on music theory faculty at Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Her teachers include Boris Slutsky, Julian Martin, and Jonathan Bass. She currently serves as Associate Professor of Piano, Artist-Performer, at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. In summer, she also teaches at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and ESME Camp. www.sookkyungcho.com

Location Information

Sherman Van Solkema Recital Hall

Download parking map for the Allendale Campus

Contact Information

Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance
616-331-3484

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This event was added to the calendar by Bridgett Vanderhoof (vandebri@gvsu.edu) on Tuesday, August 25, 2026 at 1:48 p.m.