Eiki Paik Worcester

 

Mrs. Eiki Paik Worcester studied under internationally acclaimed pianist Daniel Pollack at the University of Southern California (USC Thornton School of Music) where she received her Master of Music degree in Piano Performance. One of her daughters, Dr. Lynn Worcester , is Assistant Professor and Keyboard Area Coordinator at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. Dr. Worcester received her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma. When Dr. Worcester is in California she often shares her expertise with the Studio.

 

Eiki Worcester's musical roots reach back to Japan where she studied as a child. Her father, the Rev. Namchul Paik (1912-2012) was a Korean Presbyterian minister who started her on the piano at an early age.  Mrs. Paik-Worcester has taught piano as a faculty member at both the University of California, Irvine, and at Vanguard University.  Her study of pedagogy includes the Suzuki Method and the Dorothy Taubman Technique.  Mrs. Paik Worcester is a member of the Music Teachers’ Association of California (MTAC), has served in various officer capacities and as chairperson for competitions in her branch, serves as Co-Chair of her branch CERTIFICATE OF MERIT Music Theory Testing, is trained in the Suzuki Method, and is a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas. 

 

Her private students participate in piano competitions where appropriate and in the MTAC CERTIFICATE OF MERIT program where students are tested annually in music theory as well as sight-reading and performance.  Mrs. Paik-Worcester also serves regularly as an adjudicator at piano competitions and as a Certificate of Merit Adjudicator outside of her MTAC Branch area.  She also hosts regular recitals for her students and their families.

 

In 1971, Mrs. Paik-Worcester immigrated to the United States where she began studying with UC Irvine Professor Arnold Juda (1913-1988).  She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Piano Performance with honors from the University of California at Irvine in 1978.  Her teachers have also included Edna Gollansky and Dorothy Taubman. 

 

During her music studies she received numerous scholarships and awards, including the coveted Daniel Aldrich Chancellor’s Scholarship for Music at UCI.  She was also a winner at numerous piano competitions including the Joanna Hodges Piano Concerto Competition (now the Waring International Piano Competition) and the Ventura College Piano Competition and later concertized, performing solo concerti with symphony orchestras in Southern California.  In addition to distinguishing herself as a soloist, she went on to perform extensively in chamber ensembles and in performance recitals for flute and piano for Doctoral candidates at USC.