Piano Duet
Eun-Jung Byun and Jihyeon Lim, two South Korea born pianists, who have established themselves in the Australian music scene, present a varied program of piano duet works by South Korean and Australian composers.
Dr. Eun-Jung Byun is one of the leading collaborative pianists of her generation. She is highly regarded for her artistry in art song, operatic repertoire, and chamber music, and has also achieved notable success as a teacher, coach and entrepreneur.
Dr. Jihyeon Lim is a Sydney-based pianist, specialising in contemporary piano music. She focuses on works composed in East Asian countries, including Korea, China, and Japan, as well as Australia. She is actively performing on concert stages across Australia and East Asia and frequently premiering new works in both regions as she continues to develop and share her distinctive artistic voice.
DATE & TIME
SUNDAY, 1 March
3:00 – 4:30 PM
TICKETS
GENERAL $30
CONCESSION/STUDENTS $25
Under 18 Free
PROGRAM
JOH. SEB. BACH 1685-1750
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, Sheep May Safely Graze (BWV 208)
GABRIEL FAURE 1845-1924
The Dolly Suite, Op. 56
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF 1873-1943
Vocalise Op. 34, No. 14
JISOO LEE b.1981
Arrange Rhapsody, arr. Hyojeong Yeon
W.A. MOZART 1756-1791
Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525
Ross Edwards b.1943
A flight of Sunbirds: Nine Bagatelles
DONG-IL SHEEN b.1965
Song for Waeving, Song of the Winnover
MIRRIAM HYDE 1913-2005
Fantasia on Waltzing Matilda
Dr. EUN-Jung Byun
Born in South Korea, Dr Eun-Jung Byun is an accomplished musician who has established herself in the Australian music scene as one of the leading collaborative pianists of her generation. She is highly regarded for her artistry in art song, operatic repertoire, and chamber music, and has also achieved notable success as a teacher, coach and entrepreneur.
Eun-Jung holds a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Performance, both majoring in piano accompaniment, from the University of Sydney, where she studied with Elizabeth Powell, Daniel Herscovitch and David Miller AM.
During her postgraduate studies, she was selected for a student exchange at the Royal Academy of Music in London and received both the International Exchange Scholarship and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS) Scholarship. She later completed her Doctor of Musical Arts on the development of Korean art song based on poetry from the Japanese Occupation Period (1910-1945), under the supervision of Associate Professor Jeanell Carrigan AM.
As a Korean-Australian musician, Eun-Jung has long been active in fostering cultural exchange between the two countries. In 2011, she was invited by the Australian Embassy in Seoul to represent Korean-Australian musicians at the launch of the Australia-Korea Year of Friendship. Following this, she performed at the annual Summer Chamber Music Festival at the Seoul Arts Center and served as liaison officer for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Korea Tour education outreach program. She has also worked as a staff pianist at the Yewool Summer School Program and performed extensively in major Korean concert venues with esteemed professors, including Baritone Park Soo Kil (Emeritus Professor, Hanyang University) and the late Soprano Lee Kyu Do (Emeritus Professor, Ewha Womans University). More recently, she was invited to collaborate with professors from Yewool, Korea’s largest and longest-running organisation of voice professors, in their annual Korean art song performance at the Sejong Center for Performing Arts in Seoul.
A member of the Accompanists’ Guild of NSW and the visiting collaborative pianist for the Pacific Opera Studio, Eun-Jung has appeared in the Melbourne International Festival of Lieder and Art Song, the Festival of Art Song hosted by the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and the 2023 Dr Charles Perkins Oration alongside Professor Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO, Sarah Prestwidge, and Dr Daniel Yeadon. Since 2005, she has worked as a staff pianist in the Vocal and Opera Studies division and is currently Associate Lecturer in Collaborative Piano at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Dr. JIHYEON LIM
Originally from South Korea, Lim earned her Bachelor of Music from Hanyang University in Seoul before moving to Sydney in 2010. She completed her Master’s degree in 2012 and Doctor of Musical Arts in 2019 at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, with her dissertation exploring Unsuk Chin’s Six Piano Études and Piano Concerto. During her graduate studies, Lim was the recipient of numerous scholarships, including the Queen Victoria Club Scholarship, and the Albert Scholarship. She also performed widely as a soloist and collaborated with ensembles such as the Sydney Conservatorium’s Modern Music Ensemble and Wind Symphony Orchestra.
In 2014, Lim recorded works by emerging Australian composers, including Peter McNamara (b. 1980) and Brad Gill (b. 1976), appearing on the inaugural Sideband CD, and recorded duet works by James Madsen in 2015. Since then, she has remained actively engaged in the performance and recording of new Australian works. Most recently, in February 2025, she recorded Sunsetting Shadows for two pianos and percussion by Dr. Peter McNamara.
In addition to her solo career, Lim is an active ensemble pianist. As a member of both the International Piano Duo Association (IPDA) and the Piano Duo Association of Korea, she regularly performs across Australia and abroad. In 2018, she toured Japan, South Korea, and Australia in a series of piano duo recitals with pianist Kiha Kang. In 2021, she received funding from Create NSW, a department of the NSW government, through the ‘Play the City’ initiative, presenting Australian Piano Works for Four Hands—a trio of recitals with fellow pianist Melody Chung. Now an ongoing artistic initiative, the project includes notable performances at Sydney’s Independent Theatre (July 2024) and an upcoming recital at St Paul’s Church in Burwood (November 2025).
In recognition of her contributions to music and cultural exchange, Dr. Lim was awarded Australia’s ‘Distinguished Talent’ Permanent Residency Visa in 2021. This has enabled her to expand her artistic activities across the country, which she embraces as her second home. Lim intends to continue her work as a cultural ambassador. She strives to pioneer musical innovation across international waters in continuing to introduce East-Asian music to Australia, and Australian music to East-Asian countries.