“ Ji Su Jung’s performance was dazzling—filled with breathtaking virtuosity but also beautifully shaped with extraordinary color and nuance.” JoAnn Falletta
The first solo percussionist to ever receive the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, Ji Su Jung has a distinctive musical voice that is instantly recognizable for its depth and lyricism.
Born in South Korea, Ms. Jung began studying marimba at age three, a rarity among percussionists. Since launching her career as a soloist, she has performed concertos with such leading orchestras and conductors as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra with Marin Alsop, the Houston Symphony with Daniel Hege, the Aspen Festival Orchestra with Michael Stern, the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra with Peter Oundjian, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic with JoAnn Falletta, the Grand Rapids Symphony with Marcelo Lehninger, and the Boise Philharmonic with Eric Garcia.
“Ji Su Jung’s performance of the Kevin Puts Marimba Concerto was dazzling—filled with breathtaking virtuosity but also beautifully shaped with extraordinary color and nuance,” remarked conductor JoAnn Falletta about Ms. Jung’s performance with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. Ms. Jung has recorded the Marimba Concerto of Puts, a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, with the Baltimore Symphony and Marin Alsop, to be released on the Naxos label in early 2023.
Equally at home as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and collaborative artist, Ms. Jung has performed solo recitals in such venues as the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ newly renovated David Geffen Hall. An active chamber musician, she frequently performs with The Percussion Collective, an all-star collection of young percussionists, of which she has been a core member since its inception. As part of The Percussion Collective, she has recorded Garth Neustadter’s Seaborne, anticipated to be released in 2023. As a collaborative artist, she has also appeared at Yellow Barn and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, where she performed with notable artists such as Gilbert Kalish and the late Roger Tapping.
The recipient of numerous awards and competition prizes, in 2022, she received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, becoming the first percussionist to receive the award. She won both First Prize and the Audience Choice Award at the 2018 Ima Hogg Competition of the Houston Symphony, as well as a top prize at the 2015 International Marimba Competition in Linz, Austria. She has also appeared as a young artist in residence with American Public Media’s highly popular radio program Performance Today, hosted by Fred Child.
Recognized internationally as a pedagogue, Ms. Jung serves on the faculties of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University. She has taught master classes at New York University’s Steinhardt School, the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, Michigan State University, and Beijing Central Conservatory in China, among other schools.
Ms. Jung holds a bachelor’s degree from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, where she attended thanks to a generous grant from The Brookby Foundation. She also holds a master’s degree and an artist diploma from the Yale School of Music, where she studied with Robert van Sice.
Ji Su is a musical ambassador for Adams Percussion, Pearl/Adams, and Vic Firth percussion companies.