Korean-American composer/pianist/educator Beata Moon was born in North Dakota and raised in Indiana where she began studying piano at five years of age. She made her orchestral début at age eight and concertized throughout the Midwest, giving recitals and appearing with orchestras throughout the region. After graduating from the Juilliard School with a degree in piano performance in 1990 where she was a student of Adele Marcus, she took a break from playing to reassess the role of music in her life. It was at this time that she discovered her passion for composing and teaching, which in turn, led her back to her performing career. She was hailed by the New York Times as one of today’s “established new music pianists”.
The last fifteen years have seen Beata Moon produce works in a variety of genres, including solo, chamber and voice. Her CDs of chamber music, Perigee & Apogee and Earthshine were enthusiastically received by press and public alike and continue to be broadcast on radio stations throughout the world. Her works have been widely performed by ensembles and soloists across the nation, including the Barbad Chamber Orchestra, Cantori New York, the Corigliano String Quartet and Ensemble Solage. She has received a number of commissions from many renowned instrumentalists, among them Patricia Davis, Kevin R. Gallagher, Thomas Rosenzkranz, and Brian Sacawa. Her collaboration with the modern dance company, SENSEDANCE, under artistic director and choreographer Henning Rübsam resulted in many commissioned works, including the piano trios Moonpaths and Dinner is West.
An ardent ambassador for new music, Beata Moon has enjoyed reaching out to broader audiences in her roles as impresario and music television host. She is the director of the Beata Moon Ensemble, which promotes women composers, conductors and performers and has worked with conductor Sarah Ioannides and violinist Lara St. John in this effort.
The role of the composer as performer and educator is an important one in Beata Moon’s life. She performs her own works in addition to those of both traditional and contemporary composers and is actively involved in aesthetic education as a teaching artist at Lincoln Center Institute. Her recital series, WHODUNNIT?!, where audience members are not given the programme notes until after the performance, continues to engage listeners.
For more information, please visit Beata Moon’s website.
