Hailed as “…a deity of elegance” (New Brunswick Beacon) and praise-worthy for performances described as “…mature and yet fresh, imbued with tradition and yet inhabited by individuality” (The Herald Times), Dr. Tina Chong is an acclaimed international soloist, chamber musician, and pedagogue. A Yamaha Artist, she currently serves as Associate Professor of Music at San Diego State University, following previous faculty appointments at the University of San Diego and Indiana University.

A native of Banff, Canada, Dr. Chong’s concert career has taken her to renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, Mexico City’s Sala Chopin, and the Sheldon Center in St. Louis, alongside featured appearances at the La Jolla Music Society Summerfest, Portland International Summer Festival, and Chicago’s WFMT Series. She has performed as a guest soloist with ensembles worldwide, including the Calgary Philharmonic, Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, and Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. A versatile collaborator across orchestral, chamber, and dance repertoire, she performs regularly with the San Diego Symphony and Art of Elan. Artists she has worked with include Rachel Barton Pine, Inon Barnatan, Anthony McGill, Stefan Jackiw, and Tyler Duncan. This breadth of creative activity continues to inspire Dr. Chong’s engagement with a wide community of musicians and audiences. 

Dr. Chong earned her Doctor of Music in Piano Performance—with minors in music education and historical performance practice—from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music under the mentorship of Arnaldo Cohen and Elisabeth Wright. She is also a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Angela Cheng. A prizewinner at the Montreal International Musical Competition and the Jacques Klein Piano Competition, her accolades include first prizes at the CMC International Stepping Stone Competition and the Aspen Music Festival Concerto Competition, as well as grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

An active international clinician and adjudicator, Dr. Chong is a pioneer in keyboard accessibility, having spearheaded the acquisition of the West Coast’s first two reduced-sized piano keyboards at SDSU.