Monica Kang-Sasaki (Monica Kang) is a versatile performer, piano teacher, and avid scholar. An advocate for new music, she has premiered works for piano solo and various ensembles in festivals and concerts; she has given lectures on both theoretical and pedagogical aspects of contemporary repertoire in regional and national conferences, such as those hosted by College Music Society, Texas Music Teachers Association, and National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy. Her book, “Post-Tonal Affinities in Piano Works of Bartók, Chen, and Crumb,” was published in 2016.
At age thirteen, Monica debuted with the Saddleback College Orchestra playing Beethoven’s Concerto No. 2. She has performed solo and collaborative recitals in various cities in the United States, Taiwan, and Italy. Impactful chamber experiences include touring the Tuscany region as a piano trio and having served as the pianist of Hear No Evil, a new music sextet formed in Austin.
Honors Monica received include 2012 Franz Liszt International Competition Third Prize in the Concerto Division, National Federation of Music Clubs 2011 Collegiate State Winner, Leticia Flores Penn Endowed Presidential Scholarship, President’s Award Merit Scholarship, the federally funded Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship, Thaviu-Isaak Scholarship, and the 2007 Union League Civic and Arts Foundation Scholarship Competition in Chicago, where she won First Prize.
Monica obtained her doctorate from The University of Texas at Austin. She has a master’s degree from Manhattan of Music and holds dual bachelor degrees in Mathematics and Piano Performance from Northwestern University. Dr. Kang-Sasaki currently serves as Senior Adjunct Professor of Piano at Concordia University Texas, and she maintains a piano studio. Nurturing and supportive, she is proud of her students’ efforts and accomplishments; they have received top honors in festivals, competitions, and some are now piano teachers themselves