Dr. Eunjung Choi
With excellent record of both research and piano performance/pedagogy, Dr. Eunjung Choi cooperates our music department to foster Claflin students as a visionary leader and provides her service to music education field.
Biography
Dr. Eunjung Choi, a native of Seoul, South Korea, serves as Professor of Music at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina, where she leads the keyboard program and teaches applied piano, class piano, piano pedagogy/literature, and music appreciation. She joined the Claflin faculty in 2011 after previously teaching at Georgia College & State University.
Her work as an artist and scholar has earned significant recognition. In 2025, Dr. Choi was named a National Winner (third place) in the Piano Performance (Solo) Professional Division of the American Prize Competitions in the Performing Arts. In 2023, she received the prestigious Fellowship Award from the South Carolina Arts Commission. In 2022, she was awarded an SC Humanities Major Grant to present a statewide lecture-recital series; this project can be viewed under Recent Exhibitions. She also received a 2021 South Carolina Arts Commission Arts Project Support Grant to produce her CD Celebrating Women Composers. Earlier major projects include her 2016 CD Inside Out: A Journey and a lecture-recital series supported by The Humanities Council SC focused on classical works by South Carolina African-American composers; this project can be viewed under Experience.
Dr. Choi has performed for international, national, and regional audiences across the United States and South Korea. She has been invited to present her work at the MTNA Leadership Summit, College Music Society International, National, and Regional Conferences, Boston University’s African-American Music in World Culture International Conference, the African Diaspora Symposium, and The Korean Association of Piano Pedagogy Annual Symposiums in Seoul. Her performance career also includes concerto appearances with the Limestone College Wind Ensemble, Claflin University Wind Ensemble, and Georgia College & State University Concert Band.
As a researcher, Dr. Choi explores multicultural music performance, innovative teaching strategies, and interdisciplinary approaches to music education. Her scholarship has been published in the International Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Science, Piano Magazine, American Music Teacher, the Journal of Music Education Science, and publications of the Korean Association of Piano Pedagogy Press.
A dedicated leader in the music education community, Dr. Choi currently serves as President of the South Carolina Music Teachers Association. Her previous leadership roles include Vice-President for Conferences, Vice-President for Competitions, Conference Ads/Booklet Chair, and SC MTNA Young Artist Division Chair. She is also a board member of the Korean Association of Piano Pedagogy.
Dr. Choi holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Pedagogy with a minor in Music Theory from the University of South Carolina, a Master’s degree in Piano and Organ Performance from Ball State University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from Dongduk Women’s University in Seoul, South Korea. She also completed the Management Development Program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Her principal piano and piano pedagogy teachers include Charles Fugo, Scott Price, Robert Palmer, and Myung Hye Bang, and she studied organ with Kirby Koriath.
Education
Bachelor of Music, Piano Performance
Master of Music, Piano & Organ Performance
Doctor of Musical Arts, Piano Pedagogy
Management Development Program Certificate
Research Interests
- Multiculturalism in Music Performance
- Piano Music of Franz Liszt
- Interdisciplinary Teaching Approaches in Music Higher Education
- Integration of Music and English Language Instruction
- Music Administration in Higher Education
Experience
Promoting S.C. African-American Composers' Classical Music Lecture-Recital Series
Activities and Honors
- The National Association for Music Educators (NAfME), Member
- Music Teachers National Association, Member
- South Carolina Music Teachers Association, Member
- The College Music Society, Member
- Pi Kappa Lambda, Honorary Music Society, Lifetime Member
- The Korean Association of Piano Pedagogy, Lifetime Member
- The Korea Music Educators Society, Lifetime Member
- The Korean Society of Music Educational Technology, Lifetime Member
- The Korean Piano Society, Lifetime Member
Recent Publications
- Choi, E. & Sanchez, L. (2020).“The Nuts and Bolts of Teaching Piano Duet Repertoire: John Corigliano’s Gazebo Dances for Piano Four Hands.” Piano Magazine, Vol. 12, no. 5, Autumn Issue.
- Jasina, J., & Choi, E. (2020). “The Effectiveness of Adapting the Six Thinking Hats Model into Music Courses to Improve Critical Thinking Skills.” International Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Science, 5 (11).
Recent Presentations
- Choi, E. (November 2021). “Integrative Strategies to Improve Critical Thinking Skills in Piano/Music Lessons.” South Carolina Music Teachers Association Annual Conference, Columbia, SC.
- Jasina, J. & Choi, E. (May 2021). Keynote Speaker, “Promoting Critical Thinking in Music,” The 13th Annual Symposium of the Korean Association of Piano Pedagogy, Virtual Conference, South Korea.
- Jasina, J., & Choi, E. (February 2020). “Interdisciplinary Approaches to Enhance Critical Thinking and Writing Skills,” University of South Carolina Center for Teaching Excellence’s 2020 Spring Workshop, Columbia, SC.
- Jasina, J., & Choi, E. (July 2019). “Integrative Approaches to Improve Critical Thinking and Writing Skills: Adapting Six Hats Thinking System into Music Appreciation Courses,” South Carolina Conference on Innovations in Teaching and learning in Higher Education, Charleston, SC.
- Choi, E. & Sanchez, L. (May 2018). “John Corigliano: ‘Gazebo Dances’ for Piano Four Hands” The10th Annual Symposium of the Korean Association of Piano Pedagogy, Seoul, South Korea.
Recent Exhibitions
Exploring Female Contributions to Music and Their Influence on South Carolina