Incheon-born conductor Joung-A Yum has embarked on a diverse career as mezzo-soprano, choral director, and pianist. She first started to play the piano at age three, mesmerized by the vivid contrast between the black and white keys. After receiving the Bachelor’s in Piano Performance, Joung-A realized her true passion was vocal music and worked to earn her Masters in Choral Conducting from the Korean National University of Arts.

Since moving to the US in 2018, she has continued her studies at Texas State University with Dr. Craig Hella Johnson and now pursues the Doctor of Musical Arts degree under Dr. James Bass at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

Based on her belief that every form of art must inspire audiences, Joung-A strives to make her choral performances as stimulating and fascinating as possible. Passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration, Joung-A established in 2015 a performance group called Y&J, in which she produced premiere performances of over two dozen works by emerging young composers in conjunction with visual art, dance, and other media, including that of her sister, choreographer Joung-Yun Yum.

She has served as Assistant Conductor for the Conspirare Symphonic Choir in Austin, Texas, and looks forward to her role as Chorus Master for the upcoming production of The Rake’s Progress for UCLA Opera, directed by Peter Kazaras.