Education and Background
Helen Chang earned her Masters of Music at the University of Illinois at Urbana in piano performance and also holds a Bachelor of Arts in piano performance from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her principle teachers were William Heiles, Theodore Edel, and Reid Alexander (Piano Pedagogy). In addition, she had chamber coaching with the Pacifica Quartet, master class with John O’Connor, and served as teaching intern at the University of Illinois Piano Laboratory Program. Helen was the recipient of the Chicago Bar Association Award scholarship for piano, as well as the Steinway of Chicago Music Educator Grant.
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For the past 16 years, Helen has established an independent piano studio of over 30 students in the Palatine area as well as serving as piano faculty at Harper College Community Music Center, McHenry County Music Center, and Adler Music and Arts Center where she taught individual piano lessons, group lessons and theory classes for all ages. In 2018, Helen joined Music Blocks, a non-profit organization in the Barrington area to provide after school semi-private piano instruction to students of low-income families in District 220 and is the current Program Manager. In addition to teaching, she enjoys performing on various solo and collaborative recitals.
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Helen has been an active member of Music Teachers National Association since 2004 and had served as Co-chair for the NWSMTA Achievement in Music Program. Her students have been graduates of the ISMTA Level 12 Achievement in Music Theory/Performance Exams, scholarship recipients, and prizewinners at the Grandquist Memorial Contest, IMA State Olympic Contest, NWSMTA Sonata-Sonatina Festival, as well as participants of the Chicago Symphony Young Artists Auditions. Helen has a passion for developing students with a solid and comprehensive foundation of musical skills, and a life-long appreciation for music. She tries to bring a positive and encouraging attitude to her classes so that every student can be motivated and succeed.
