Described as a pianist who “speaks through sound” and a  musician who “lives [her] life through music," American pianist and conductor, ERICA PHUNG enjoys a diverse musical career, equally at home in the worlds of solo piano, chamber/collaborative piano, symphonic, and operatic music. Her additional backgrounds in music theory, voice, bassoon, and percussion allow her to bring a unique perspective to her music. Her musical views are strongly influenced by her heritage in the Russian and German schools, particularly the lineages of Otto Werner-Mueller and Sergei Babayan. Her interpretations are formed through a delicate balance between elements of the two hemispheres of the brain: of analysis and emotion; logic and intuition; order and spontaneity. ​ ​ In 2022, Phung commissioned and premiered a piece for solo piano by Samuel Durand, entitled "Why Do We Suffer?" According to Durand, "This piece mourns the suffering around us and mourns the fact that we often inflict suffering on others, either by intention or accident. We are all touched and disfigured with the emotional scars that come from life’s difficult experiences and we all need healing." In 2021, Phung was selected by internationally acclaimed conductor, Sarah Ioannides, to conduct Symphony Tacoma in a world-premiere recording of Elise Winker’s "Beneath the Cherry Blossom Tree." Other world and regional premieres include works by Hsiu-Ping (Patrick) Wu, Fangting Li, Arson Fahim, Jiacheng Shen, Xiaoxi Zhang, Mikeila McQueston, and Jeremy Davalos.​ ​ Phung has participated in summer programs, most notably the Wolfgang-Sawallisch-Musikakademie Conducting Masterclass (Grassau, Germany), Cascade Conducting Orchestral Masterclass (Tacoma, WA), and George Hurst Conductors' Course (Sherborne, England). She has worked with musicians, including Dr. Melvin Chen, Frank Wiens, and Carl St. Clair in masterclasses. As a pianist and conductor, Phung has performed internationally in venues, including the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (NYC), Konzertrotunde Bad Reichenhall (Bad Reichenhall, Germany), Lagerquist Concert Hall (Tacoma, WA), California Theater (San Jose, CA), Musco Center for the Arts (Orange, CA), and Edward M. Pickman Concert Hall (Cambridge, MA).  ​ Phung studies piano with Grammy-nominated pianist and composer, Andrius Žlabys, voice with soprano, Karyl Ryczek, and theory/musicianship with composer, Peter Aldins, at the Longy School of Music. She studied piano with Dr. Grace Fong and conducting with Daniel Alfred Wachs at Chapman University, where she graduated summa cum laude and with departmental honors, receiving a BM in Piano Performance and Conducting. At Chapman, she was the recipient of the 2019 Shaun Naidoo Music Theory Award, 2019 Golden Ears Award, 2021 Conducting Award, and 2021 Burghardt Academic Excellence Award. Other teachers and mentors include Dr. Irina Prilipko-Morgan, with whom she studied piano for ten years, and Sarah Ioannides, with whom she studied conducting through Cascade Conducting and the Curtis Institute of Music. ​ Phung is on the piano faculty at Allegro Music School (Arlington, MA) and maintains her private studio.