Dr. Summer Chang2020

Dr. Summer Chang received her DMA degree in piano pedagogy/music education from the University of Texas at Austin in 1999. Her previous education included a master degree in piano performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a bachelor degree in piano performance from the National Taiwan Normal University.

She was profoundly influenced by three teachers at UT during her doctoral studies: Danielle Martin inspired her to incorporate principles of Dalcroze eurhythmics into piano performance and instruction; Martha Hilley (author of Piano for the Developing Musician) showed her the key to structuring a teaching session efficiently; and Dr. Robert Duke (author of Intelligent Music Teaching) led her into the field of experimental music research. Guided by these extraordinary role models, Dr. Chang has focused her academic energy into three main fields: the application of music methods (Orff, Kodaly, Dalcroze, and Suzuki), instructional design for high efficiency, and the application of educational psychology in music learning.

Dr. Chang has trained many college piano majors in these concepts through her courses "Introduction to Music Education" and "Piano Pedagogy" as an associate professor. She has also collaborated with local music studios on research concerning performance measurement and the design and marketing of preschool music courses.

As an active performer, she co-founded the flute and piano ensemble "IT Duet" and performs regularly with flutist I-Mei Chang. Her published professional writings include Fantasy and Decadence: Exoticism in Debussy’s Piano Works (2012) and Application of Gestalt Psychology on Bartok’s Piano Works (2008).