Hon Ki Cheung

they/them

A headshot of Hon Ki Cheung

Assistant Professor of Music Theory

About

Hon Ki Cheung received their Ph.D. in music with a minor in sociology from the University of Minnesota in 2022. Their research interests include music by Chinese composers in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, with a focus on how modern Chinese and Western societies and cultures influence pedagogy, the music-making process, and musical expressions in Chinese instrumental music, as well as the composers’ identity expressions in different cultural contexts. 

Cheung has presented papers at national conferences for the Society for Music Theory, Society for Ethnomusicology, and regional conferences, including the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic, Music Theory Society of New York State, Midwest Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Pacific Southwest Chapter of the American Musicology Society, and the Southwest Conference on Asian Studies. Their recent work can be found in Twentieth-Century Music.


Cheung is also active as a composer, organist, and pipa player. Their compositions have been featured in the Women in Music Festival at the Eastman School of Music, Music by Women Festival at the Mississippi University for Women, and Florida State University Festival of New Music.
 

Courses

MUA 411A/B 
Ear Training and Sight Singing III/IV

MUS 388M 
Current Trends in Music Theory

MUS 321J 
Twentieth-Century Musical Analysis

MUS388S 
Identity Presentation in Music

Recent Publications

Interruptions and Discontinuity: Constructing a Segregated Intercultural Musical Space in Tan Dun’s Concerto for String Quartet and Pipa.” Twentieth Century Music, October 7, 2025. 

Recontextualizing Tertian Harmonies: A Preliminary Study of the Discourse on Western Harmony in Twentieth-Century China.” History of Music Theory (blog), October 2,
2024.

“Listening to Each Other? Opportunities and Challenges in Music Exchanges Between the United States and People's Republic of China in the Late Twentieth Century.” Rockefeller Archive Center Research Reports, March 4, 2024,
 

 “Out of Context #2: Modern Development of Non-Western Music.” I Care if You Listen, February 26, 2020.


 “A Study of Inter-Cardinality Voice Leading Using Voice-Leading Zones and Extended 4-Cube Trio.” Gamut: Online Journal of Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic: Vol. 8: Iss. 1 (2018): Article 8.

Recent Press

Head, Fanny Po Sim. "Pianist Angela Lau and Her Project Sharing Hong Kong Piano Music." Interlude, May 10, 2023.

Hon Ki Cheung received their Ph.D. in music with a minor in sociology from the University of Minnesota in 2022. Their research interests include music by Chinese composers in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, with a focus on how modern Chinese and Western societies and cultures influence pedagogy, the music-making process, and musical expressions in Chinese instrumental music, as well as the composers’ identity expressions in different cultural contexts. 

Cheung has presented papers at national conferences for the Society for Music Theory, Society for Ethnomusicology, and regional conferences, including the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic, Music Theory Society of New York State, Midwest Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Pacific Southwest Chapter of the American Musicology Society, and the Southwest Conference on Asian Studies. Their recent work can be found in Twentieth-Century Music.


Cheung is also active as a composer, organist, and pipa player. Their compositions have been featured in the Women in Music Festival at the Eastman School of Music, Music by Women Festival at the Mississippi University for Women, and Florida State University Festival of New Music.
 

MUA 411A/B 
Ear Training and Sight Singing III/IV

MUS 388M 
Current Trends in Music Theory

MUS 321J 
Twentieth-Century Musical Analysis

MUS388S 
Identity Presentation in Music

Head, Fanny Po Sim. "Pianist Angela Lau and Her Project Sharing Hong Kong Piano Music." Interlude, May 10, 2023.

Contact Information

Phone
512.471.0777
Campus location
MRH 3.710

Teaching Areas

Theory

Research Areas

Sociology of Music

Contemporary Asian American Music

Twentieth-Century Chinese Music

Education

Doctor of Philosophy
University of Minnesota

Master of Music
Florida State University

Bachelor of Music
University of Kansas

Bachelor of Engineering
Chinese University of Hong Kong