About
I grew up in an athletic family. My grandpa was selected into the Taiwan baseball hall of fame, my grandma was a marathon runner, my father was a tennis player and still a golfer with handicap 5 at age near 70. My family tried to turn me into another tennis player or golfer, but I was always able to run away from the tennis count or golf range to my music room.
I started piano lessons at 4 and had the first performance at 6. At 7, my school was recruiting for talented music and dance students. Without telling my parents, I signed up for both auditions and was admitted to both. I decided to join the dance class, however, after one month I realized that my calling was in musicI. By the time I joined the music class, all of the “cool” instruments were taken, leaving only the unpopular and unfeminine erhu for me. Erhu is in my “DNA” ever since because the tuning for erhu is D and A (haha).
In the 20 plus years of my musical education, I was able to obtain various scholarships, including the one that led me to study in the U.S.A. While in America, I played with many different types of musicians, and I especially enjoyed playing with random street musicians. I have learned how to play without rules and boundaries, letting creativity be my only guide.
As an instrument Erhu had alwas moved with the performers from region to region from Central Asia to China proper. Erhu’s approachable and accommodating sound allowed it to blend into new local melodies. The masters I studied with also come from different backgrounds and training; some of them grew up in Taiwan, and some of them came during the Cultural Revolution from Mainland China. I have performed across America, Africa, Asia (China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Palua, & my beloved Taiwan), and Europe (France, Germany, Swissland, & Turkey). I have played with jazz, rock, country, Middle Eastern, Indian, Hawaiian, Western Classical, and some undefined genres.
Like erhu performers of the old, I too enjoy taking this unique instrument and sound around the world to share with all who love music.
Education
2011 Ph.D., Ohio State University. Research focus: melodic pitches in Mandrain tones.
2008 Research Associate: Ancient Greece Archaeology in Ancient Corinth, with Ohio State University Department of History
2007 M.M., Ohio University. Major: Music Composition
2005 B.A., Chinese Culture University, Taiwan. Major: Chinese music
Faculty Development and Certificates
2015 National Endowment for the Humanities grant for Summer Seminars and Institutes: Buddhist Asia: Traditions, Transmissions and Transformations, hosted by East-West Center.
2014 Certified Chinese Language Instructor by the Department of Education Taiwan.
2013 Field Travel Award, China’s Encounter with the West: Past Present and Future, funded by the East-West Center and the Chinese Ministry of Education.
2012 Certified National Coach for Chinese Martial Arts, Taiwan
Working Experiences
2016 Chinese Language Instructor, Hawaii Pacific University
2016 Associate professor, Asian studies, Hawaii Tokai International College
2016 Diamond Sutra translating project
2013- 2016 Visiting Assistant Professor, Asian Studies Program, University of Cincinnati
Course taught: Music of the Silk Road; The Chinese music ; Buddhism; Chinese language; Chinese folklore; Chinese martial arts (PE ).
2012 Adjunct Professor, Earlham College
Course taught: World music; Chinese ensemble; Ear training; Music theory; Erhu lesson.
2011 Music teacher, AIDS camps for new-born to age of 6, South Africa
2008-13 Chinese Language Instructor, Summer Language Study Abroad Program, National Taiwan University of Physical Education
Awards
2018 Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award, best instrumental album of the year
2011 Ohio State Medical Center, Research funds for dissertation on music and language research. Award amount: $10,000 USD
2011 National Science Foundation (Taiwan), Cognitive Research on Music, Language and Brian. Award amount: $125,000 USD
2004-11 Sing-Tian-Gong Long-Term Scholarship, for Gifted Artists Award amount: $15000 per year, Total amount: $105,000 USD
2005 First Place, Tai-Chi, National Martial Arts Competition
2004 First Prize, Erhu Solo, National Music Competition, Taiwan
Publications
2016 Hung, T.-H (2015). The Lion's Roar in Taiwan: Genealogy of a Traditional Dance. Education About Asia, volume 20: no. 3 Winter 2015.
2011 Hung, T.-H (2011). One music? Two musics? How many musics? Cognitive ethnomusicological, behavioral, and fMRI study on vocal and instrumental rhythm processing. Ph.D. dissertation. Ohio State University. Retrieved from https://etd.ohiolink.edu/ap:10:0::NO:10:P10_ACCESSION_ NUM:osu1308317619
2008 Lee, C.-Y., & Hung, T.-H. (2008). Identification of Mandarin tones by English speaking musicians and non-musicians. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 124, 3235-3248. Retrieved from http:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19045807
2008 Hung, T.-H., & Lee, C.-Y. (2008). Identification of Acoustically Modified Mandarin Tones by English- Speaking Musicians and non- musicians. In Proceedings of the 20th North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics, vol. 1 (NACCL-20, Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University, 2008), p 139-146. Retrieved from http://naccl.osu.edu/sites/naccl.osu.edu/files/NACCL-20_Vol-1.pdf
2008 Poss, N., Hung, T.-H.,& Will. U. (2008).The Effects of Tonal Information on Lexical activation in Manda- rin. In Proceedings of the 20th North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics, vol. 1 (NACCL-20, Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University, 2008), p 205-211. Retrieved from http://naccl.osu.edu/ sites/naccl.osu.edu/files/NACCL-20_Vol-1.pdf
2007 Hung, T.-H (2007). A wish to the moon. A music composition for erhu and orchestra. Master thesis. Ohio University. Retrieved from https://etd.ohiolink.edu/ap:10:0::NO:10:P10_ETD_SUBID:60573
Conference Presentations
2015 “A Legendary Lion in the Contemporary World--Development and Changes of the Lion Dance in Taiwan.” Mid-Atlantic Region Association for Asian Studies, Pittsburgh, PA
2015 “The Impact of Governmental Policies on Contemporary Three Teachings (Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism) Practices in Taiwan.” East West Center National Conference, Springfield, MO
2014 “Social and Economical Impacts on Court Music in Pre-Tang and Tang Dynasty China.” East West Center National Conference, Houston, TX
2013 “Buddhism and the Transformation of Court Music in Tang Dynasty.” Association for Chinese Music Research, Indianapolis, IN
2009 “EEG study on tone priming in Mandarin: what do behavioral and electrophysiological data tell us about the underlying processes.” International Conference for East Asia Languages, Beijing, China
2009 ”How do music and language experience impact the processing of pitch contours?” International Con- ference for East Asia Languages, Beijing, China
2009 ”Listen with your eyes. Perspectives on contemporary Chinese music performance practice.” European Seminar in Ethnomusicology, Milton Keynes, UK
2009 ”Change and Development in Nanguan Practice, with Implications for Suzhou Pingtan.” Chinese Oral and Performing Literature, Chicago, IL
2008 ”Processing linguistic and musical pitch by English-speaking musicians and non-musicians.” Music, Lan- guage and the Mind, Tufts University, Medford, MA
2008 ”Let’s Play! San Fen Sun Yi Fa三分損益法: A Musical Practice, Theory, and Philosophy in Ancient China.” History conference, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
2008 ”Identification of Acoustically Modified Mandarin Tones by English-Speaking Musicians and non- musi- cians.” With Lee, Chao-Yang. The 20th North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics, The Ohio State University, Ohio
2008 ”The Effects of Tonal Information on Lexical activation in Mandarin.” With Poss, Nick, Will, Udo. The 20th North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics, The Ohio State University, Ohio
2007 ”Identification of Acoustically Modified Mandarin Tones by English-Speaking Musicians.” With Lee, Chao-Yang. 12th International Conference on the Processing of East Asia Related Languages, Taiwan
Invited Lecture Performances and Interviews
2015 National Endowment for the Humanities funded workshop on Cultural Diversity in Asia, Lecture-performance.
2014 College of DuPage, Chinese music and poetry. Lecture recital
2014 Erhu Society in Japan, Magazine interview
2014 Berea College, Making Music, Making History, Made in China, Lecture recital
2013 Lewis and Clark College, From erhu to the Chinese violin, from barbarian gate-crasher to aristocracy emblem, Lecture recital
2013 East West Center, The development of Chinese music from ancient to contemporary, Lecture recital
2011-12 University of Dayton, The art of Chinese music, Lecture
2011 East Asian Studies Ohio State University, Cognitive study on rhythm processing--- cultural evolutionary perspective, Lecture
2010 Turkey TV station, The myth of Chinese art and music, TV interview
2009 Chinese Culture University Taiwan, Cognitive sciences in ethnomusicological research, Lecture
Selected Performances
2015 Erhu Faculty Recital, University of Cincinnati
2012 Artist for Appalasia, Kyma International sound Symposium, St. Cloud State University
2011 Erhu recital/ lecturer, invited by Columbus Museum of Art---Music in our garden
2011 Artist for Bells of silk and wood, composed by Luis Obregon, Ohio State University
2010 Artist, 6th Konya mystic music festival, Turkey
2008 Erhu Recital, Ohio State University, Fully Sponsored by Flamenco Multi-cultural Folks Arts
2007 Erhu Recital, Ohio University, Sponsored by OU Chinese International
2005 Erhu Concert, National Concert Hall, Taipei, Taiwan
2003 Erhu Concert, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, Taipei, Taiwan
2000, 02 Erhu Artist at National Chinese Opera Company, National Opera House, Taiwan