Vivian Kung is a Taiwanese American tuba player, music educator, and aspiring crazy cat lady. Ms. Kung currently serves as the principal tuba of Symphony in C, and is the first Asian woman to hold the position. She is an active freelancer in the New England area, and can be seen regularly performing with The Orchestra Now (TON), Symphoria, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Cape Symphony, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, and more.
Vivian has been the recipient of various solo competition awards. Ms. Kung is a two time prize winner in the Susan Slaughter tuba competition at the International Women's Brass Conference. While studying in Los Angeles, she was a winner in the brass division of the 37th Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition. In 2019, Ms. Kung received first place in the Music Teacher's National Association brass division, placing first out of an initial 600 competitors. In 2018, she received first place in the Northwestern Tuba and Euphonium conference Young Artist solo competition. She has also performed with the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps, where she secured a contract at the age of 17 and won a world championship at 19.
Ms. Kung is an avid chamber musician, and has attended the Aspen Music Festival Quintet Seminar, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and Avaloch Farms Music Institute. Her quintet, Amo Brass, won gold prize in the Cambridge Chamber Competition and was a finalist in the 2023 Plowman Chamber Music Competition. Recently, they were awarded the ABQ Prize at the 50th Annual Fischoff Competition.
Vivian received training at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where she studied with Aubrey Foard. She graduated with Latin honors and three degrees in music education, tuba performance, and Asian American studies. Ms. Kung received her masters from the Yale School of Music, where she studied Carol Jantsch.
In addition to her musical pursuits, Ms. Kung is an avid proponent of racial/gender equity in classical music. She previously served as a representative on the Yale Graduate and Professional Student Senate and serves on the Diversity and Inclusion board, where she worked to implement more equitable measures and actions for student life at Yale University. She also worked on the editorial staff of the Tuba Euphonium Social Justice Initiative (TESJI) newsletter, where she worked to curate a quarterly newsletter for the tuba euphonium community. Vivian is an active member of the Chromatic Brass Collective, an organization that celebrates, performs, mentors, and educates to increase visibility for racially/ethnically underrepresented women & gender non conforming people in music.
In her free time, you can find Vivi petting her cats, reading a book with unnatural speed, and watching cooking shows on Netflix.
Vivian has been the recipient of various solo competition awards. Ms. Kung is a two time prize winner in the Susan Slaughter tuba competition at the International Women's Brass Conference. While studying in Los Angeles, she was a winner in the brass division of the 37th Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition. In 2019, Ms. Kung received first place in the Music Teacher's National Association brass division, placing first out of an initial 600 competitors. In 2018, she received first place in the Northwestern Tuba and Euphonium conference Young Artist solo competition. She has also performed with the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps, where she secured a contract at the age of 17 and won a world championship at 19.
Ms. Kung is an avid chamber musician, and has attended the Aspen Music Festival Quintet Seminar, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and Avaloch Farms Music Institute. Her quintet, Amo Brass, won gold prize in the Cambridge Chamber Competition and was a finalist in the 2023 Plowman Chamber Music Competition. Recently, they were awarded the ABQ Prize at the 50th Annual Fischoff Competition.
Vivian received training at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where she studied with Aubrey Foard. She graduated with Latin honors and three degrees in music education, tuba performance, and Asian American studies. Ms. Kung received her masters from the Yale School of Music, where she studied Carol Jantsch.
In addition to her musical pursuits, Ms. Kung is an avid proponent of racial/gender equity in classical music. She previously served as a representative on the Yale Graduate and Professional Student Senate and serves on the Diversity and Inclusion board, where she worked to implement more equitable measures and actions for student life at Yale University. She also worked on the editorial staff of the Tuba Euphonium Social Justice Initiative (TESJI) newsletter, where she worked to curate a quarterly newsletter for the tuba euphonium community. Vivian is an active member of the Chromatic Brass Collective, an organization that celebrates, performs, mentors, and educates to increase visibility for racially/ethnically underrepresented women & gender non conforming people in music.
In her free time, you can find Vivi petting her cats, reading a book with unnatural speed, and watching cooking shows on Netflix.