Keum Hwa Cha has performed extensively as a soloist, chamber musician, and concertmaster in the United States and South Korea. She has appeared under the baton of maestros David Effron, Robert Shaw, and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, and has collaborated with artists such as Chee-Yun, the Marcus Roberts Trio, Béla Fleck, and Time for Three. Cha has also performed with the Cornell Contemporary Chamber Players, the Binghamton Philharmonic, the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, the Han-Eum Chamber Ensemble, and the Seoul Tutti Ensemble. Her summer festival appearances include performances at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, the Castleman Quartet Program, the Philadelphia International Music Festival, and the Lydian String Quartet Festival.

Born in Seoul, Korea, Cha earned her Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory and her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where she served as a teaching assistant to Charles Castleman. She also holds an Artist Certificate from the Meadows School of the Arts at SMU. Her principal violin teachers include Hyo Kang, Masuko Ushioda, Chee-Yun, and her mother, Hai Eun Hyun. Her chamber music coaches have included Katherine Murdock, Eric Shumsky, James Dunham, Norman Fisher, Andres Diaz, Stephen Drury, the Lydian String Quartet, and the Ying Quartet. Cha has extensive experience in historical performance practice, having studied with Paul O’Dette and Malcolm Bilson.

Cha previously held teaching positions at California Lutheran University, Pepperdine University, Idaho State University, and the University of Rochester before joining the Colburn School in 2023. She currently teaches violin, viola, and chamber music at the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts.

Her students have received fellowships and numerous accolades, including winning the ISCS Young Artist Competition and the CHICO Young Artists Series. Many of her pre-collegiate students have served as principal players in youth orchestras and have been selected for All-State Honor Orchestras, the SCSBOA All-Southern Orchestra, and the MTAC Convention Honors Ensemble. Cha’s students have gone on to study at prestigious music programs, including Indiana University and the Meadows School of the Arts.

Cha is actively involved in youth and music ministries and regularly plays with the praise team and chamber orchestra at All Nations Church.