Academic Faculty

MyungHee Chung, was born in Korea and began piano when she was four. Four years later, she debuted with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra with a Mozart Piano Concerto. Dr. Chung holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including first prize at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Young Performer’s Competition and the William Kapell International Piano Competition. Her playing has been described as “clean, strong…marked by a bell-like quality that never disappeared even under the severest pressure.” Since then, she has performed throughout North America with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, as well as in Europe and Asia. Public radio has also broadcasted her performances.MyungHee Chung has also been an active chamber musician—not only as part of the Seraphin Piano Trio, but also as a collaborator with many artists such as David Kim, David Taylor, and Alison Balsom. She performs regularly as a member of UW-Whitewater Piano Trio and with other faculty. More recent performances include concerts in Wisconsin and England, as well as the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois and recording all 24 Debussy Preludes. MyungHee Chung has taught at the Missouri Southern State University in Joplin and the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. In August 1995, she joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where she is a full Professor and Keyboard coordinator. She has judged many competitions including Missouri Southern International competition and has given master classes at universities in the US and Korea.

Karen Boe, a Minnesota native, was a William Petschek Scholarship student and teaching fellow in piano at the Juilliard School where she received her Master and Bachelor of Music degrees. While completing her doctoral degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison under Howard Karp, she also served as a member of the piano faculty. Her previous teachers include William Masselos, Leonard Shure, Sophia Rosoff and Aube Tzerko. Ms. Boe has performed extensively, with concert performances in Alice Tully Hall and the Juilliard Theatre in New York, the Villa Terrace Museum in Milwaukee, guest recitals at Northwestern University, Luther College, Illinois-Wesleyan College, and Oberlin College, and numerous concerts in Spain and France. She joined the piano faculty of UW-Whitewater in 2003.

Daniel Lyons holds a doctoral degree in Piano Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Masters and Bachelor degree in Piano Performance from DePaul University. His teachers include Dmitry Paperno, Howard Karp and Mary Sauer. He has performed in recitals throughout the Midwest and has appeared as a soloist with the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, the DePaul Symphony Orchestra, and the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra. While pursuing his doctoral degree, he also founded and established the Madison Academy of Music, location of one of the most successful Kindermusik programs in the country. He currently lives in Madison with his wife, Monica, and his children, Kenny, Tatiana and Alexander.

Sarah Read-Gehrenbeck,a native of Dallas, holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance with a minor in Russian Language and Literature from Boston University, where she was in demand as a collaborative pianist. While in Boston, she began her organ studies under the direction of Peter Sykes. She earned her Master of Music in Organ Performance at Indiana University, where she taught as an Associate Instructor of Piano, before becoming the Associate Instructor of Organ. While in Bloomington, she frequently performed with colleagues at Indiana University’s Early Music Institute, where she studied harpsichord and continuo playing. From 2003-2006, she was Organist for Indiana University’s Beck Chapel. From 2004-2006 she was Church Music Intern to Chancellor’s Professor Dr. Marilyn Keiser, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Bloomington. While at Trinity, she served as assistant organist and music director, and founded a very successful children’s choir. Currently, Gehrenbeck is Organist and Choirmaster at First United Methodist Church in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, and adjunct Instructor of Piano at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She maintains a private studio in Whitewater, and is nearing completion of her Doctor of Music in Organ Performance at Indiana University.

Matan Rubinstein was born in Israel, and began his involvement with music from a young age receiving classical training for piano. At age 15, having been exposed to the work of Cecil Taylor and other music of the Jazz Avant-garde, he turned to improvisation as a primary interest. Increasingly interested in composition, he studied with Andre Hajdu and Menachem Wisenberg, and after a move to New York City, received his Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Composition from the Manhattan School of Music. He is currently completing his DMA in Composition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison under Prof. Stephen Dembski, where he was awarded a University Fellowship. Prior to his appointment to UW Whitewater, Matan held the post of Guest Lecturer at the UW Madison’s Center for Jewish Studies, where he taught a course surveying the work of Jewish musicians in America from concert to Broadway stages, Rock n’ roll to Hip-hop. He has also taught music theory at the UW Madison School of Music.