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Adams Musical Instruments - Together in Music

Ji Su Jung

Percussion soloist Ji Su Jung has a distinctive voice that is instantly recognizable for its lyricism and sincerity. Her artistic breadth carries her with equal ease from the solo marimba medium to multiple percussion solos and European theatrical performance pieces. Born in South Korea, Jung is a rarity in the world of percussion having begun her studies at the age of four. Her exceptional talent was recognized early on and led to recitals and concerto performances at such a young age that she needed a small platform to stand upon just to reach the keyboard of the instrument. That platform was soon left behind as her stature and musical voice matured and numerous solo performances throughout her native country followed. In 2011, she moved to the United States where she completed her undergraduate studies at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University thanks to a generous grant from The Brookby Foundation in Wisconsin and later received her Masters and Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music under the tutelage of famed percussionist Robert van Sice.

Ji Su's Adams Gear

Her exceptional potential quickly blossomed into professional success  leading to concerto performances with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Houston Symphony, the Romanian Symphony Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony and the Windsor Symphony in Canada. Recitals across America have won over new audiences for the marimba and her appearance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C resulted in an unexpected invitation to join the the faculty at The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. 

Miss Jung was the first percussionist in 26 years to win the First Prize at the 2018 Ima Hogg Competition of the Houston Symphony where she also garnered the Audience Choice Award. NPR radio host Fred Childs invited her to be a young artist in residence on his nationally syndicated program, Performance Today. During her week with him in Minneapolis , she performed many of the seminal pieces in the marimba repertoire introducing the instrument to listeners in every corner of the country. Her concert for children while in Minnesota was highly successful demonstrating Jung’s love for bringing classical music to young audiences. Ji Su has presented master classes at the Curtis Institute of Music, New York University, The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, and the Beijing Conservatory in China. In 2015, she was a laureate at the renown International Marimba Competition in Linz, Austria.

As the repertoire for marimba in mixed ensemble is growing rapidly, Miss Jung has become an active chamber musician alongside her solo concerts. She spent a summer at the Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival where she played with many of today’s greatest chamber musicians including legendary pianist Gilbert Kalish and Roger Tapping, formerly of the Takács String Quartet. The following year, she appeared at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in Connecticut, giving the world premieres of small ensemble pieces from today’s finest emerging composers.

Since 2018, Jung has performed as a member of the spectacular Percussion Collective, an all-star collection of young percussionists performing concertos and recitals in major concert venues around the world. 

Ji Su Jung plays on an Adams Alpha marimba