From Korea to Pullman, Yoon-Wha Roh brings piano talent to Spokane String Quartet

The piano has taken Yoon-Wha Roh around the world a time or two, but the Washington State University professor has found serenity in the Inland Northwest. By playing with the Spokane String Quartet this weekend, she will be checking a few boxes off her bucket list.

Roh, born and primarily raised in Korea, was barely 3 years old when her busy “tiger mom” enrolled her in piano classes. Initially, it was her teacher’s habit of giving out toy rings for every new piece learned that persuaded Roh.

“That kept me going,” Roh said with a laugh. “I was so eager to get it!”

Roh would continue to play for years before considering the piano as much more than just a hobby. After her father’s two-year exchange brought Roh to the United States for the first time, they went back to Korea where she entered a renowned arts middle school. It was there that Roh decided to fully pursue the instrument, but perhaps not in the most conventional ways.

“First of all, my mom was scary,” Roh joked, with a tinge of truth.

Roh continued to play and practice for long hours each day throughout middle and high school before entering her undergrad as a piano major. While at college she would have the opportunity to branch out and try other things, such as the idea of political relations.

“I took it really seriously for a year or so hoping that maybe I could be a diplomat,” Roh said. “Turns out, oh no, I don’t think so, I cannot negotiate!”

Roh then tried scriptwriting and even made a short film with a crew team but could not stand the pressure that comes with a mistake sometimes affecting the entire team and their time. Meanwhile, on the piano, your mistake relatively stays your own to combat.

So, piano it was. Roh’s love for the instrument and classical music continued to grow as she finished her bachelor’s degree in Korea, master’s in Boston, performance diploma in Baltimore and doctorate in Bloomington, Indiana. She then landed a full-time teaching job at the University of Idaho, just across the state line from Washington State University.

Although Roh “loved” her year in Idaho, during her visits to Pullman she could not help but enjoy the WSU campus and how beautiful she found it to be. After a year at UI, she landed a job as an assistant professor of piano at WSU.

“Being at WSU has been a really wonderful, fortunate experience,” Roh said. “Getting to meet a lot of wonderful musicians, colleagues, and of course students.”

Although Roh has spent much of her life in major cities and travels the world to play the piano (Brazil, Italy, Spain and more), she loves to call Pullman home – it is a college town hidden away on the Palouse and surrounded by nature instead of the constant traffic and hustle and bustle of people.

Roh will be accepting an invitation to play with the Spokane String Quartet on Sunday at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox, which will check two boxes on that bucket list of hers. On multiple occasions she has attended performances at the Fox and sat in awe of the theater’s beauty, but has never had the opportunity to perform on its stage. She has also spent years playing chamber music, but has never performed with a string quartet.

“It’s a nice scare,” Roh said. “I’m a little bit nervous with a little bit of butterflies, but not like anything negative, it’s more like excitement for sure.”