Grace Jeong received her bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her master’s study was at University of Southern California, and she received a Master of Choral Education from VanderCook College of Music. This school year marks Ms. Jeong’s 19th year of teaching and her 14th year at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School. Under Ms. Jeong’s direction, Whitney M. Young choirs have performed all over the Chicagoland area including Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall, the Auditorium theater, and The Art Institute of Chicago, to name a few. The choir has toured in Germany, South Korea, China, Nashville, Tennessee and Florida. Whitney M. Young High School choirs consistently receive Superior and Honors Superior ratings in both the CPS and the IHSA choral festivals.
Ms. Jeong frequently works as a judge and a clinician in the greater Chicago area, and she has served as the CPS All-City High School Assistant Director. She received an award from The National Endowment for Humanities to participate in the Mozart Institute in Vienna.
Recently, Ms. Jeong led the Urban Initiative panel discussion at the 2018 Central & North Central Division ACDA Conference. She has also assisted in building stronger inner city choral programs though the efforts of Join Voices Chicago, a non competitive choral festival for inner city students and directors.