The Music faculty at Concordia University Texas are locally and nationally known as leaders in their fields and are excellent performers, instructors, and pedagogues. They are consistently involved in the world-class Austin performing arts community, and many have one or several positions with local professional ensembles.
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Dr. Joseph Choi
Adjunct Instructor, PianoJoseph Choi holds an MM from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal and Matti Raekallio. He earned his Doctor of Musical Arts and Bachelor of Music degrees at the University of Texas at Austin under the tutelage of Anton Nel.
He has received a variety of awards. He was the second-prize winner of the 2014 NTD International Piano Competition; finalist in the 2016 San Antonio International Piano Competition, where he was awarded the prize for Best Performance of a Baroque Composer; second-prize winner of the 2012 Tuesday Musical Club Competition in San Antonio; and winner of the 2012 Concerto Competition at the University of Texas at Austin.
He has given recitals in impressive venues, such as Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Long Center for the Performing Arts, and Benedict Music Tent at the Aspen Music Festival. Choi has performed with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, University of Texas Symphony Orchestra, Aeolus Quartet, and others.
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Dr. Janet Grohovac
Adjunct Instructor, GuitarJanet Grohovac has taught individual lessons and group guitar classes at Concordia University Texas since 2013.
She completed her DMA and MM at the University of Texas at Austin, with Adam Holzman as her main pedagogue. Originally from Victoria, British Columbia (BC), Canada, Grohovac completed her Bachelor of Music (BM) with distinction at the University of Victoria, studying with Dr. Alexander Dunn.
As a dynamic concert artist, her recent performances include appearances at the Festival Internacional de Guitarra de Taxco, Mexico, with the Grohovac-Ibison Duo, in addition to solo concerts for Austin Classical Guitar Society's Salon and Cactus series, Seattle Classical Guitar Society's Frye Museum concert series, Central Valley's Guitarraganza festival in California, St. Barnabas' series in Victoria, BC, and Victoria Conservatory of Music's Summer Guitar Academy in Canada.
Grohovac has accumulated many top-prize awards in competitions, including:
- First place as a soloist in the 2015 Southern Guitar Competition and 2009 Northwest Guitar Competition.
- Second place in the 2014 Montreal International Guitar Competition.
- Finalist in the 2015 Lone Star Guitar Festival and Competition, 2015 Tennessee International Guitar Competition, 2014 Dallas International Guitar Competition and 2010 Texas Music Festival Classical Minds Competition.
In addition to performing, Grohovac is a sought-after professor. She has created and organized curriculum for guitar workshops as well as instructed group lessons, private lessons and master classes.
She has headed the guitar program at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, since 2010. Since 2014, she has served as a clinician for Carnegie Hall's Musical Connections Program, the Lullaby Project, in partnership with Austin Classical Guitar.
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Dr. Monica Kang-Sasaki
Adjunct Instructor, PianoMonica Kang-Sasaki is a versatile performer, piano teacher and avid scholar. She has premiered solo, collaborative, chamber, and ensemble works and has presented on contemporary repertoire in various theory and pedagogy conferences. Her book, "Post-Tonal Affinities in Piano Works of Bartók, Chen, and Crumb," was published in 2016.
At age thirteen, Kang-Sasaki debuted with the Saddleback College Orchestra, playing Beethoven's Concerto No. 2. She has performed solo recitals in the United States, Taiwan and Italy. Collaboratively, Kang-Sasaki has performed with vocal, string, wind, brass, percussion and mixed ensembles in Austin, Chicago, New York City and international festivals. She joined a tour of the Tuscany region in Italy, playing Mendelssohn's Trio No. 2. She is currently the pianist of the new music ensemble Hear No Evil.
Kang-Sasaki has received various honors, including the following:
- Third prize in the concerto division of the 2012 Franz Liszt International Competition
- 2011 collegiate state winner of the National Federation of Music Clubs
- Leticia Flores Penn Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Piano
- President's Award Merit Scholarship
- Federally funded Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship
- Thaviu-Isaak Scholarship
- First prize in the 2007 Union League Civic and Arts Foundation Scholarships Competition in Chicago, Illinois
She graduated with a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin and has a master's degree from Manhattan of Music. She also holds dual bachelor's degrees in Mathematics and Piano Performance from Northwestern University. Kang-Sasaki serves as an adjunct professor of piano at both Concordia University Texas and Texas Lutheran University.
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Prof. Ann Kjerulf Knien
Prof. Ann Kjerulf Knien, Adjunct Instructor of Fluteann.kjerulfknien@concordia.edu
Ann Kjerulf Knien is a freelance flutist and music educator in Austin, Texas. She is an adjunct professor at CTX and heads the KjKn Flute Studio. Kjerulf Knien enjoys performing with a variety of local groups, leading masterclasses and coaching chamber music.
An advocate of music education and outreach, she was president of the Austin Flute Society from 2008 to 2010. She is passionate about teaching, collaborating on chamber works, delving into the flute and organ repertoire, and premiering new works.
Kjerulf Knien holds an MM from Boston Conservatory and a BA/BM from the University of Washington, in addition to studying at El Conservatorio de Granada, Spain. She has performed with the Henri Mancini Institute and Banff Music & Sound programs.
Primarily taught by Doriot Anthony Dwyer, Felix Skowronek and Carol van Bronkhorst, she completed studies with Lirio Jose Palomar Faubel, Steven Finley, Pamela Ryker and John Thorne.
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Prof. Aaron Lack
Adjunct Instructor, PercussionDirector, Concordia Percussion Ensemble
Aaron Lack is a percussionist and drummer who has performed concerts throughout North America and Europe. He has lived and performed in the Austin, Texas, area since 2000. Lack has shared the concert stage with jazz greats, such as Benny Green, Roy Haynes, Chuck Israels, Alex Acuna, David Friedman, David Samuels, Ndugu Chancelor, Terry Gibbs, Ken "Professor" Philmore and Andy Narrell. He has also performed with James Brown drumming legends Jabo Starks and Clyde Stubblefield.
Lack has performed on vibraphone, drums, steelpan, congas and other percussion instruments with various musicians and groups, including Robben Ford, John Primer, John Fremgen, Donna Hightower, Earl "Pool" Ball, Michael Shay, AIME, RokkaTone, Los Jazz Vatos, the Robert Hohner Percussion Ensemble, The Ernie Durawa Trio, The Dave Palmer Quartet, Brannen Temple Quartet, Midland Symphony Orchestra, Golden Arm Trio, Drew Smith Band, Invincible Czars, The Stingers ATX and more.
He has also performed at numerous jazz festivals, including the Montreaux/Detroit Jazz Festival, Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival, Grand Rapids Arts Festival, Austin Jazz Festival, Texas Jazz Festival, San Antonio Jazz Festival and University of Texas Jazz Festival.
Lack currently performs in the Austin area with The Organic Mechanics, The Aaron Lack Steelpan Trio, The Aaron Lack Vibes Quartet, The Monstas and many other projects that encompass a broad range of musical styles.
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Prof. Julie Linder
Adjunct Instructor, ClarinetJulie Linder-Gaulin teaches Applied Clarinet at Concordia and is the director of the Concordia Community Music Academy (CCMA).
She is the founder of Musician Pro Workshops, a company that produces educational clinics that connect students with professional teachers and performers, and also serves as the director of Clarinet Pro Workshops, the clarinet division's summer camps. Partnering with Selmer Paris and D'Addario Artist Dawn Marie Lindblade of the University of Central Oklahoma, they established a curriculum for the camps that reflects their common core teaching philosophies. She also collaborates with the company's saxophone faculty, helping guide curriculum development, marketing and expansion.
In addition to previously teaching as an adjunct professor of Clarinet at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK), she guest conducted the TAMUK Clarinet Choir for their ICA ClarinetFest Baton Rouge performance in 2014 and co-organized the inaugural TAMUK Clarinet Day.
She is a freelance clarinetist and currently plays with the Victoria and Corpus Christi Symphonies. Linder-Gaulin also teaches privately for some of the most recognized and award-winning band programs in the state of Texas. She is a Selmer Paris and D'Addario Woodwinds Artist and plays exclusively on Selmer Paris clarinets.
Linder-Gaulin's teaching philosophy is centered around what she believes are the fundamental aspects of musicianship, including healthy mechanics of playing, continual refinement of technique, creative expression, and serving as an active and positive steward within the music community. She also provides young students with skills for later independent learning, including practice methodology, musical construction and form.
Studying at the University of North Texas and DePaul University, Linder-Gaulin's primary teachers were Dr. James Gillespie, Dr. John Scott, Julie DeRoche, Rami Solomonow and Matthias Glander.
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Joseph M. Martin
Artist-in-Residence -
Dr. Eundo Park
Adjunct Instructor, TrumpetDirector, Concordia Jazz Collective
Eundo Park teaches trumpet, brass and jazz ensemble as an adjunct professor at Concordia University Texas. Before joining Concordia, he served as an adjunct faculty member at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas.
He received his DMA in Trumpet Performance with a Jazz Emphasis from the University of Texas at Austin. Park earned his MM in Jazz Performance and his BM in Trumpet Performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y.
Park is an active jazz, classical and commercial performer locally, nationally and internationally. He has shared the concert stage with many jazz greats, including Wynton Marsalis, Clark Terry, Bob Brookmeyer, Conrad Herwig, Tim Hagans and Ron Westray. He has also been a trumpet soloist with the Korean Broadcast Station Symphony Orchestra. Park is also passionate about music education and teaches a private studio of 50+ middle school, high school and college students in Central Texas.
Originally from Houston, Texas, Park began playing the trumpet at the age of 11. While in Houston, he attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, where he received the John Phillip Sousa Award. His primary teachers include Bob Walp, Jim Thompson, Clay Jenkins, Ray Sasaki, Ron Westray and Dennis Dotson.
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Prof. Abigail Pena
Adjunct Instructor, VoiceAbigail Pena joined Concordia's voice faculty in 2015. As a clinician, Pena serves on the panel for the Texas Music Teachers Association All-State Competition.
Before joining CTX, she served as an adjunct faculty member at New York University, where she received her bachelor's and master's degrees in Vocal Pedagogy and Vocal Performance, respectively. Her primary teachers include Carolann Page, W. Stephen Smith and Camille Gifford.
At Concordia, Pena has performed in recital and served as a soloist in Bach's "Magnificat," Faure's "Requiem" and Mozart's Vespers Solennes de Confessore, K. 339, with the University Choir and Concordia Singers.
Outside of Concordia, Pena has sung with the Hawaii Opera Theatre and New Jersey Opera Theater, and she has performed at the Teatro della Muse in Ancona, Italy. She has also performed in concert, opera and recital in New York City, San Francisco and Austria.
As a teacher, she believes that each voice has its own distinctive beauty. She believes that it is only by shedding our emotional and technical masks that we can discover our vocal identity and truly express ourselves to an audience.
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Prof. Elizabeth Rosinbum
Adjunct Instructor, Saxophone
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Prof. Shelley Schneider
Adjunct Instructor, Voice