Instructor of Music
Dr. Ginger Yang Hwalek

Ginger Yang Hwalek, a native of South Bend, Indiana, began piano studies at age four and has been involved with music ever since as a pianist, violist, teacher, and conductor. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University and a Master of Music degree from Wichita State University, both in piano performance. In 1988, she completed a Doctorate in Piano Chamber Music and Accompanying from Northwestern University.

Included among her influential teachers are Eugene Basabe, Sidney Foster, Hans Boepple, Robert Hamilton, and Robert Weirich. Dr. Hwalek has taught at Illinois State University, University of Maine, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Michigan. She has served as Music Director of the McPherson (Kansas) Symphony Orchestra and the Central Maine String Orchestra (MUSE). She has also conducted several Piano Monster Concerts in Plymouth, New Hampshire, and Essex Junction, Vermont. In collaboration with soprano Nancy Ellen Ogle, Dr. Hwalek has performed and recorded three CDs of contemporary American art songs under the Capstone Records label.

At the University of Maine, Dr. Hwalek teaches class piano, directs the chamber music program and is the pianist/coach of the Opera Workshop. She also has a private studio of 10 pre-college students. She is active in the Maine Music Teachers Association and is a past board member. Dr. Hwalek resides in Bangor with her husband and their children, Heather and Joseph.

ginger.hwalek@umit.maine.edu