Dr. Jeongwon Ham is Frieda Derdeyn Bambas Professor of Piano in Music at the University of Oklahoma, widely recognized for her achievements as a performer, teacher, and adjudicator. She has earned numerous awards for both teaching and performance, including the University of Oklahoma’s prestigious Regent’s Award for Superior Teaching (2021).

 

Her influence as a teacher is evident in the accomplishments of her students, who have won major prizes in regional, national, and international competitions and secured faculty positions at leading institutions in the United States, Canada, and Asia. Among the universities where her students now teach are the University of Alabama, University of British Columbia, Bowling Green State University, University of Houston, University of Northern Iowa, Northern Michigan University, University of Missouri–Columbia, University of South Carolina, Oklahoma City University, Chinju National University of Education, Ewha Womans University, and the Korea National University of Arts.

 

As a pianist, Ham has won top prizes at numerous piano competitions, including the Bartók/Kabalevsky International Competition, the Epinal International Competition, the Paul Hindemith Competition, the Artur Schnabel Competition, and the Simone Belsky Competition. Critics have praised her artistry: The New York Concert Review described her Merkin Hall performance as “an admirable piano recital,” while Frankfurter Rundschau highlighted her “astonishing and effortless technique,” noting that she performs with both “incredible warmth” and “great power.”

 

As a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician, Ham has given numerous concerts, master classes, and lectures at many universities, festivals, and conferences across the U.S. Asia, and Europe, including the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria; the Festival Internazionale Incontri Musicali di Sorrento, Italy; World Piano Conference, Serbia; Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities; Korean Piano Pedagogy Conference, Seoul; and Asian International Piano Academy Festival and Competition. Recent performances and lectures include the Lindlar Piano Festival in Germany, a guest residency at Northern Michigan University, and a tour in the California area. 

 

​Ham maintains an active international career as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. She has been featured in concerts, master classes, and lectures at universities, music festivals, and international conferences across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Her engagements include appearances at the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt (Austria), the Festival Internazionale Incontri Musicali di Sorrento (Italy), the World Piano Conference (Serbia), the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, the Korean Piano Pedagogy Conference (Seoul), and the Asian International Piano Academy Festival and Competition. Recent highlights since 2024 include a residency at Northern Michigan University, performances at the Lindlar Piano Festival in Germany, and a California concert tour. Her upcoming engagements include concerts and master classes in Malaysia and Singapore.

 

Her international visibility extends beyond performance. In recognition of her distinguished career, she was selected for the “40 Faces–40 Years” exhibition at the Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung’s (a scholarship program sponsored by the Free Democratic Party in Germany) 40th anniversary convention in Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany, an honor given to just forty outstanding scholarship recipients chosen from more than 6,800 individuals worldwide.

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​Ham is also highly sought after as a juror for major competitions. She has served on the panels of the Bartók/Kabalevsky/Prokofiev International Piano Competition, the Los Angeles Liszt International Piano Competition, the World Piano Conference, the Classical American International Piano Competition, the Asian International Piano Academy and Festival, the Sonatina and Sonata International Youth Piano Competition, and the Starr Young Artist National Piano Competition. In addition, she is a frequent adjudicator for the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) competitions at state, divisional, and national levels.

 

​Her teaching career has been equally international. In Germany, she held positions at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler (Berlin), the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Music Pre-College (Berlin), and the University of Duisburg. Since 2014, she has been on the faculty of the International Piano Festival in Lindlar, Germany. She has also served as a guest professor at Ewha Womans University in Korea, taught as a master teacher at Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, China, and was Artist-in-Residence at Renmin University of China in Beijing.

 

Ham’s educational background is rooted in both the United States and Europe. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from the University of Kansas and completed advanced performance degrees in Germany, including the Konzertexamen from the Universität der Künste in Berlin and the Reifeprüfung from the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen. Her principal teachers included renowned pedagogues such as Sequeira Costa, Klaus Hellwig, Hans Leygraf, and Ludger Maxsein. She also studied with many distinguished pianists at international academies, including Edith Picht-Axenfeld, Claude Frank, Karl Heinz Kämmerling, Alfons Kontarsky, Vitaly Margulis, and György Sebök.

 

Through her teaching, performing, and service to the global piano community, Dr. Jeongwon Ham has established herself as an artist of international distinction and as an influential educator whose legacy is carried on by her students around the world.