The New York Concert Review has described Vivian Chang-Freiheit as an “excellent pianist… [producing] very delicate, fine phrasing, always singing lines, fully aware that Schubert is the master lieder composer.” In recital with Wen-Sinn Yang, principal cellist of the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, she was praised for delivering “a conscientious, intelligent interpretation that made telling musical sense.” As a frequent collaborator with singers and instrumentalists, Dr. Chang-Freiheit has performed at Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street Y, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Lincoln Center Plaza, the Kennedy Center, Taiwan National Hall, and in venues throughout the United States, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and the Czech Republic.

In 2025, Dr. Chang-Freiheit was appointed Program Director of the Adamant Music School in Vermont. Since 2017, she has served as Piano Lead for Summer Performing Arts with Juilliard and also performs as a Juilliard Visiting Artist for Nord Anglia Schools. She has recorded educational programs for both New York City and Boston Public Schools and is founder of Vivian Chang Studios, which has engaged over 40 artists and 200 students through creative offerings since 2020. She has served on the faculty of ASME @ WAU, Phoenix Phest Grande in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was Artist-in-Residence at the Monteverdi in Tuscany, Italy in 2016 and 2019. As Piano Chair at Pixical, she helped develop an educational program that served more than 300 pianists worldwide. Dedicated to accessibility and outreach, Dr. Chang-Freiheit has piloted numerous music initiatives for children with special educational needs in New York and Washington, DC, and was recognized for her volunteerism and advocacy with a distinguished community service award.

Vivian Chang-Freiheit debuted with Detroit Symphony Orchestra at age 16, performing Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals. She studied both piano and violin at Oberlin College-Conservatory, where she graduated Pi Kappa Lambda and received the Dean’s Talent Award and Piano Faculty Prize in Accompanying. Her principal teachers include Joseph Schwartz, Stephen Clapp, and Robert McDonald. She continued her piano studies as a scholarship student of Samuel Sanders at The Juilliard School, earning both Doctorate and Master of Music degrees, and served as a staff pianist there for eight years.

As the first recipient of the Citibank-Juilliard Stipendium and winner of the Huntington Beebe Scholarship, Dr. Chang-Freiheit spent two years in Germany, where she was a vocal coach at the Leipzig Opera House and studied with Joel Shapiro in Leipzig and Phillip Moll in Berlin. She currently lives in Washington, DC.