Biography

As a concert organist and harpsichordist, Dr. Shin-Ae Chun has given concerts on festivals and concert series as soloist and with ensembles and orchestras in the U.S, South Korea, Germany and Poland. She has also taught on both organ and harpsichord at workshops including Henderson State University, AR. Her persuasive interpretation, creativity and taste in registration, preciseness and flexibility in performance and passionate energy have attracted the audience of all ages. Elegant yet strong early music player, she has also deep understanding in music from different periods. She is represented by Concert Artist Cooperative.

She received her doctoral degree in Organ Performance and her master’s degree in Harpsichord Performance from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. During her study, she received various scholarships and fellowships and was invited to play at the Musashino-Tokyo International Organ Competition in Japan and the Dublin International Organ Competition in Ireland as the only selected competitor from the U.S. in the years when she competed.

In addition to being organist at First Baptist Church of Ann Arbor (American Baptist) in Michigan (USA), she runs the Coffee Break Concert Series which is presented once a month between September and May. She also has a private keyboard studio, teaching organ, harpsichord and piano, using a three-manual Robert Noehren organ, Keith Hill harpsichord and a Steinway grand piano.

Her two organ solo CDs with the music from the Lutheran heritage were released upon the request by Redeemer Lutheran Church in St. Clair Shores, MI: The Angels Dance (2005) and On Cherubim Wings (2006). Receiving good reviews from several newspapers, the music selections from these CDs were featured on Pipedreams, a nationally broadcasted radio station devoted to organ music in the U.S., in 2008- 2010.

Chun holds a bachelor’s degree in Nursing Science, a bachelor’s degree in Church Music and a master’s degree in Organ Performance from Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. Her teachers were Marilyn Mason, Edward Parmentier, Tong-Soon Kwak and Kyung-Hee Jung. She also took masterclasses with Luigi Tagliavini and Jos van der Kooy (Dublin, Ireland), Ullrich Böhme (Stratford, Canada), Jean Boyer (Toulouse, France and Seoul, Korea), Andre Isoir (Orsay, France), François Espinasse (Paris, France), Zsigmond Szathmary (Seoul, Korea) and Jean-Claud Zehnder (Basel, Switzerland).

Concert and CD Reviews

[In her All-Bach program “Dancing with Bach”], Chun immediately showed great poise at the console with a clean articulated Baroque touch, even tempo, and steady “dancing” foot tapping energy... in perfect balance and measured touch. The lightning fast arpeggios [in Piece d’Orgue] were executed brilliantly... Pastorella... the most discerning interpretation.... with the clean delicacy of dew on a quietly pasture at dawn... refreshing!

Classical Sonoma, North Bay, March 2010

Chun’s playing was very precise and stylish with great care of articulation... Her interpretation and registrations, attracting listeners’ ears, perfectly corresponded with the periods when the pieces were written... very high artistic level.

Bialystok, Poland 2008

“The Marilyn Mason Organ (Fisk Op.85) has outstanding clarity, and Shin-Ae Chun makes the most of it.... Bach’s Trio Sonata No.6, BWV 530 is particularly powerful, as is her reading of Prelude and Fugue in G Major, BWV 550”

The Ann Arbor News, Ann Arbor, MI, 2006

“The listener will hear that Shin-Ae Chun has mastered this instrument (Fisk Op.85).”

Christian News, St. Louis, MO, 2005

“The recording (The Angels Dance) sounds particularly crisp and clear on the Mason Organ, upon which Shin-Ae Chun is clearly proficient”

The Ann Arbor News, Ann Arbor, MI, 2005