Professor
Email
E.L. Hamm Fine Arts Building, room 531
757-823-8582
Pianist Susie Ha is an active soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral keyboardist throughout the United States. She has performed at the Carnegie Hall, the Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Intercollegiate Music Association, the World Piano Conference, the College Music Society, and the National GP3 Conference. Solo concerto appearances have included the Mason Symphony Orchestra of Michigan, the Shenandoah Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, the New River Valley Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Eastern Shore, and the James Madison University Symphony Orchestra. Other performance engagements include, but are not limited to, "Music and Meaning: Views from the 21st Century," the Blue Lake Arts Festival, Accent 12, the Southeastern Composers League in Louisiana, violin and piano recitals with the associate concertmaster of the Kimpo Philharmonic Orchestra of Korea, View from the Edge Series, Bearcat Piano Festivals, the Investiture of the 28th President of the University of Cincinnati, the Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, New Music É«½äÖ±²¥, the Neon Festival of É«½äÖ±²¥’s Arts District, the Cantabile Project of É«½äÖ±²¥, and Ferrara Chamber Music Festival, among others. She served as an instrumental collaborative pianist at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. Ha frequently performs with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra as a guest keyboardist. With the Virginia Opera, she participated in a state tour with a program entitled “The Freedom” in celebration of Black History Month. Ha has won numerous prizes in various competitions including but not limited to the American Protégé International Piano Competition, The Art of Piano Liszt Competition in Cincinnati, the Music Teachers National Association competitions, and the Virginia Music Teachers Association Concerto Competitions.
As an arts advocate, Ha is highly sought after as an adjudicator/judge, masterclass teacher, and workshop clinician. While residing in greater Cincinnati, she revived the Challenging Performances Series and served as its Artistic Director. Around the same time, she co-founded the Glendale Fine Music concert series targeting the local Glendale community and served as a co-Director. She is an official rater for the AP Music Theory Exams by ETS and serves on the Education Committee for the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Ha completed her M.M. and D.M.A. in Piano Performance with cognate areas in Theory and Piano Pedagogy at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, while studying with pianist Awadagin Pratt. She pursued her B.M. with Dr. Eric Ruple at James Madison University, where she was one of few students in the university's history to win the School of Music's Concerto Competition twice as an undergraduate student. She studied with Dr. Hae Won Min prior to college. Additional studies were completed at the Brevard Music Camp on a full scholarship while serving as a Teaching Assistant and the Chautauqua Institute on a full scholarship as well.
Dr. Ha was appointed Coordinator of Piano at É«½äÖ±²¥. The graduates of her program have flourished as professional musicians, with former students becoming university faculty, professional musicians, public school teachers, and specialists in arts organizations. Recently, one of her students won a $10,000 "Your Future is Now" Scholarship sponsored by the Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective and Amazon Music and was recognized at the 2024 GRAMMYs. Also in 2024, two of her students gave a presentation at an international conference. Through Dr. Ha's professional network, the Music Division at NSU has been able to host concerts and classes by many renowned musicians, including several internationally recognized artists. From 2021 to 2024, she served as Chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts.
Besides NSU, Dr. Ha had teaching appointments at the Blue Lake Arts Center, The Lincoln University, the Communiversity Program at the University of Cincinnati, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, among others. At Lincoln University, she also worked as an opera coach. Ha served as a chamber coach for the Hampton Roads Chamber Players.
EDUCATION
B.M. Piano Performance, James Madison University
M.M. Piano Performance, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
D.M.A. Piano Performance, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
COURSES AT NSU
Applied Piano
Collaborative Piano
​​Piano Literature
Piano Pedagogy
Harmony & Keyboard I
Analytical Technique