Jiyoung Oh is a pianist, educator, and an arts advocate committed to creating music with social impact. She leads a multifaceted career in performance, teaching and cultivating arts in the community, using music as a powerful tool for connection.
She is an active chamber musician, performing in concerts throughout the greater DMV area and beyond. She has appeared on the Kennedy Center Chamber Players Series, and frequently collaborates with members of the National Symphony Orchestra. As part of the Kennedy Center's Cartography Project, she performed on the premiere of Breonna's Lullaby by local composer Justin Carter. She was also part of an ensemble invited to perform for the Songwriters Project in Nashville, Tennessee, as the Keynote for the National Leading Age Conference. In addition to her chamber music performances, she often plays as the keyboardist for the Maryland Symphony Orchestra.
As the Director of Programming and the pianist for the Iris Music Project, she oversees musicians-in-residence in life communities across Virginia, Maryland, Illinois and Arizona. She leads and mentors musicians in collaborative and interdisciplinary projects that turn communities as hubs for creative exchange. As a member of the Iris Piano Trio, she is part of an ensemble-in-residence dedicated to making music with communities in non-traditional ways. She co-authored an article published in the Journal of Arts and Health on the innovative delivery of musical experience during the pandemic. The Iris Trio was invited to present their unique approach at institutions such as Peabody Conservatory and Carnegie Mellon School of Music. They have also served as advisors to the Peabody Community Engagement Program, and have been featured in journals, podcasts and web events.
Equally passionate about education, Jiyoung has taught at higher institutions including James Madison University, Lewis & Clark College and Secondary Piano at Indiana University. She was on the piano faculty at the Levine School of Music in both Traditional and Suzuki Departments. She is often invited as a clinician, guest lecturer and adjudicator for piano and chamber music.
Jiyoung Oh holds a Doctorate in Piano from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she was awarded the Chancellor’s Fellow to study with the late Menahem Pressler of the Beaux Arts Trio. She received her Masters in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music, and has spent summers at several music institutes, including the Aspen Music School and Holland Music Sessions. Of Korean heritage, she was born in London, England, and studied at the Glenn Gould School of Music in Toronto, Canada.