PCC Piano Department presents "Bridging Past and Present"

Pasadena City College proudly presents: Bridging Past and Present: 2026 Collaborative Piano Alumni Concert A celebration of music, resilience, and reunion.

Join us at Westerbeck Recital Hall for the third annual Collaborative Piano Alumni Concert, a deeply meaningful evening that brings together current students and cherished alumni from PCC’s Piano Accompanying program under the direction of Dr. Jocelyn Chang.

Featuring current students and outstanding alumni from the PCC Piano Accompanying class who transferred to UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, CSU Long Beach, Fullerton, Northridge, Los Angeles, Berklee College of Music, Azusa Pacific University, Mount Saint Mary's University, and the University of Redlands.

You are warmly invited to share in this celebration of artistry, memory, and homecoming—a night that bridges past and present through the music shared on stage.

ENSEMBLES DIRECTOR

Dr. Jocelyn Chang, a pianist of profound artistry and versatility, came to the United States after making her acclaimed piano concerto debut at the National Concert Hall in Taiwan. Her performances have been broadcast nationally, and she has earned numerous prestigious awards. A passionate chamber musician, she has collaborated with distinguished artists and faculty from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra (Taiwan), and the USC Thornton School of Music. Her performance engagements also include a concert tour with Grawemeyer Award-winning composer Chinary Ung.

Currently, Dr. Chang serves as Director of Keyboard Studies and Associate Professor at Pasadena City College (PCC), where she was nominated for the “Risser Outstanding Teacher Award.” Previously, she taught at the USC Thornton School of Music as an Assistant Lecturer, where she was honored as a “Model Teacher.” Her academic journey also includes faculty appointments at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB), where she served as Lecturer of Piano and Director of Keyboard Studies.

Beyond her teaching roles, Dr. Chang has demonstrated a deep commitment to advancing equity and expanding access to the musical arts. At CSUSB, she founded the International Distinguished Performing Arts Foundation(IDPAF), the Dr. Howard Chen Piano Scholarship, and the Franklin Tzeng Piano Scholarship. She also launched the annual Piano Day event and served as Artistic Director of the Distinguished Artists Series.

Internationally, Dr. Chang has been invited to perform as a guest artist at esteemed engagements and institutions, including the InterHarmony International Music Festival in Italy, the College Music Society's National Conference, the Beverly Hills International Music Festival, the Matthay Piano Festival, Aletheia University in Taiwan, Northern Illinois University, Illinois Wesleyan University, University of West Georgia, Pomona College, Marymount California University, California State University, Fresno, and Los Angeles City College. She has also presented masterclasses for the Music Teachers' Association of California and at various universities in the United States and Taiwan. In high demand as an adjudicator, Dr. Chang has served as a judge for competitions such as the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Piano Competition, the Music Teachers' Association of California Piano Competition, and the United States Open Music Competition. Her students have earned top prizes in competitions and have been accepted to leading institutions such as Harvard, Columbia, Brown, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Toronto, USC Thornton School of Music, Berklee College of Music, UCLA, and UC Berkeley. Many have gone on to distinguished careers as physicians or music professionals.

Jocelyn Chang holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Distinction from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, where she was awarded the Dean’s Full Scholarship and majored in Piano Performance, with minors in Keyboard Collaborative Arts, Double Bass Performance, and Music Education. She earned her Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, where she received the Peabody Conservatory Scholarship, and her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the National Taiwan Normal University, where she also majored in Piano Performance with a minor in Double Bass Performance. As part of her early training, she was admitted to Taiwan’s highly selective national program for gifted young musicians—a prestigious, government-funded initiative that provided rigorous, conservatory-style instruction within the academic school system to the nation’s most exceptional young artists. She later pursued advanced studies at the Belarusian State Academy of Music in Minsk, Belarus.

PROGRAM:

This performance is presented to satisfy a portion of the requirements for Piano Accompanying (MUSC 044).

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