Equally distinguished as harpist and pianist, Jing-I Jang is known for her graceful and poetic performances infused with brilliant virtuosity, charm, and tasteful musicality. Jing-I received her DMA in harp performance and literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a cognate in piano pedagogy in May 2009. Her final DMA thesis, “Preparation of a modern edition for Elias Parish Alvars’ Introduction and Variations on Bellini’s ‘Norma,’ op. 36 for harp and orchestra,” includes the world premiere of her modern edition of Parish Alvars’ previously unpublished manuscript. Jing-I Jang’s edited edition, including the score and parts and the piano reduction arranged by her have recently been published by Adlais Music Publishers in 2011. She was a lecturer in the Eleventh World Harp Congress in Vancouver, Canada, in July 2011. Her articles have been published in the World Harp Congress Review.  

Jing-I also received Master degrees in both harp performance (2004) and piano performance (2006) from Illinois. She received her Bachelor degree from National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) in Taipei, majoring in piano performance with a minor in harp. Jing-I has achieved distinction in the international and national realms of harp performance as a prizewinner in the 19^th Nippon International Harp Competition in Soka, Japan and in the 9^th International Web Concert Hall Competition in 2007, and as a finalist in international competitions in Germany and the US. She was also a winner of the Illinois School of Music Concerto Competition and the NTNU Concerto Competition.

Previously, Jing-I was acting principal harp with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and served as the adjunct harp instructor and staff piano accompanist at Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio. She was also selected as the full scholarship recipient to the Aspen Music Festival. Prior to coming to the US, she was principal harpist with the Yinqi Symphony Orchestra and the Taipei Contemporary Chamber Orchestra and various other ensembles in Taiwan. She also performed with the Sinfonia da Camera in Illinois, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan.

Jing-I served as a teaching assistant at Illinois and had been consistently named with “Outstanding Distinction” to Illinois’ Incomplete List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent from 2002-2007. She also was the recipient of the Roslyn Rensch Harp Award at Illinois (2002-2004) that recognizes exceptional achievement in academics and performance. 

Jing-I enjoys performing solo concerts as well as with small and large ensembles. She has a wide and varied repertoire and is in demand as a performer. Besides her performances activities, she is very enthusiastic and passionate in teaching. She had worked with college students at the University of Illinois, where she has taught a wide range of students from diverse backgrounds, from beginners to doctoral performance majors. She has also previously taught general music classes in high school and private lessons in both piano and harp.