Piano performance and instruction

Master of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Concentration: Piano Performance
Bachelor of Arts, University of California, Los Angeles
Concentration: Music Education and Piano Performance
Aspen Music Festival and School, June-August 2005, Aspen Colorado.
Ms. Kristal Bang teaches piano privately to students of all ages and levels in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is also an active performer as a soloist and accompanist for various ensembles. She currently works with the American Conservatory of Theatre and the San Francisco Boys Choir as an accompanist and theory instructor.

Born and raised in South Korea, Ms. Kristal Bang started music studies at the age of eight. Her early training consisted of private piano lessons and classes in solfege, singing, ear training, and theory. During the first year of her studies, she received the fourth place at the National Korean Piano Competition, which served as a starting point for her career as a pianist. After she immigrated to U.S., she continued her study at the preparatory division of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under Ms. Tomoko Hagiwara. She won several local competitions and Honorary Scholarships at the Conservatory. She performed in many different venues, as a solo recitalist, in chamber ensembles, and as the winner of the Annual Concerto Competition with the Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra, successively in the year 1995 and 1996.

For her undergrad studies, Ms Bang attended UCLA, where she originally intended to study pre-med. After two years, however, she reaffirmed her passion for music and started studying privately with Mr. Walter Ponce as a music major and began performing again. Along with performing, she also studied piano pedagogy and extensive music education courses which enabled her to gain extensive knowledge and experience in teaching children. She continued to pursue her master's degree at the SF Conservatory of Music, under private instruction of Prof. Mack McCray and performed actively as a soloist, accompanist, and chamber ensemble pianist.

Ms. Bang resides in Daly City, just south of San Francisco, where she currently owns a private piano studio. She also works as a music instructor and choir director at churches in the East Bay.

AWARDS/ ACHIEVEMENTS

Piano Department " Outstanding Achievement Award", San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 2003
Prague International Piano Festival, July 2004, Prague Czech Republi
Performed in public concerts hosted by the Prague International Festival
Zephyr Music Festival, July 2003, Courmayeur Italy
Performed in public concerts held in Aosta and Courmayeur, northern cities in Italy, within various chamber ensembles
Shandelee Music Festival, August 2002, New York
Performed in a concert given by Shandelee Music Concert Series
"Fisher-Klein Educational Award", University of California, Los Angeles, 1998