Pianist and conductor, ERICA PHUNG enjoys a diverse musical career, equally at home in the worlds of solo piano, chamber/collaborative piano, symphonic, and operatic music. Her additional backgrounds in music theory, voice, bassoon, and percussion allow her to bring a unique perspective to her music. Her views are strongly influenced by her heritage in the Russian/Eastern European School of Pianism and deep fascination with the psychological and cognitive aspects of music. Her interpretations are formed through a delicate balance between elements of the two hemispheres of the brain: of analysis and emotion; logic and intuition; order and spontaneity. ​

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A proponent and advocate of new music, Phung has composed, commissioned, and performed numerous works, both as a conductor and pianist. In 2022, Phung commissioned and premiered a piece for solo piano by Samuel Durand, entitled "Why Do We Suffer?" According to Durand, "This piece mourns the suffering around us and mourns the fact that we often inflict suffering on others, either by intention or accident. We are all touched and disfigured with the emotional scars that come from life’s difficult experiences and we all need healing." In 2021, Phung was selected by internationally acclaimed conductor, Sarah Ioannides, to conduct members of Symphony Tacoma in a world-premiere recording of Elise Winker’s "Beneath the Cherry Blossom Tree." Other world and regional premieres include works by Erica Phung, Jeremy Davalos, Arson Fahim, Jiashu He, Charlotte Koonce, Samuel LaGrego, Fangting Li, Žibuoklė Martinaitytė, Mikeila McQueston, Andreas Michaelides, Jiacheng Shen, Hsiu-Ping (Patrick) Wu, and Xiaoxi Zhang.​

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Phung has participated in professional workshops, most notably the Wolfgang-Sawallisch-Musikakademie Conducting Masterclass (Grassau, Germany), Cascade Conducting Orchestral Masterclass (Tacoma, WA), and George Hurst Conductors' Course (Sherborne, England), where she studied under conductors including Sarah Ioannides, Rodolfo Saglimbeni, and Guido Johannes Rumstadt. In masterclasses, she has worked with musicians, including Niklas Sivelöv, Donald Berman, Dr. Melvin Chen, Frank Wiens, Andrius Žlabys, and Carl St. Clair. As a pianist and conductor, Phung has performed internationally in venues, including the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (NYC), Konzertrotunde Bad Reichenhall (Bad Reichenhall, Germany), Lagerquist Concert Hall (Tacoma, WA), California Theater (San Jose, CA), Musco Center for the Arts (Orange, CA), and Edward M. Pickman Concert Hall (Cambridge, MA). 

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Phung received a Graduate Performance Diploma (GPD) in Piano Performance and Master of Music (MM) in Piano Performance at the Longy School of Music of Bard College, where she studied under the tutelage of Grammy-nominated pianist and composer, Andrius Žlabys and was named a Gene Dahmen Longy Fund Scholar. She received a Bachelor of Music (BM) in Piano Performance and Conducting, where she studied with Dr. Grace Fong and Daniel Wachs and graduated summa cum laude with departmental honors. At Chapman, she was the recipient of the Shaun Naidoo Music Theory Award, Golden Ears Award, Conducting Award, and Burghardt Academic Excellence Award. Additionally, she has completed additional graduate coursework in Piano Performance at the University of Denver and undergraduate coursework in Music Business at the Berklee College of Music Online. Other notable teachers and mentors include Dr. Irina Prilipko-Morgan, with whom she studied piano for ten years, and Sarah Ioannides, with whom she studied conducting through Cascade Conducting and the Curtis Institute of Music Mentor Network.

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​​​Committed to sharing the joy of music and educating the next generation of musicians, Phung is the owner and founder of Erica Phung's Piano Studio, where she teaches Classical Piano and Music Theory & Ear Training lessons to students of all ages and levels, including pre-school, pre-college, recreational adults, and profession/continuing education. She is an active member of the Music Teachers’ Association of California (MTAC; Santa Clara County Branch), California Association of Professional Music Teachers (CAPMT; Santa Clara Valley Chapter), and Music Teachers National Association (MTNA).