The Cliburn

From North Royalton, Ohio, Heesun Joyce Rogers, a 56-year-old physician, performs HAYDN Sonata in A-flat Major & CHOPIN Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Major for our next Cliburn Amateur Spotlight! Watch all videos at cliburn.org/amateurspotlight.

Heesun Joyce Rogers began playing piano at age 6, performing and competing in many competitions in her native Korea. When it came time, however, she shifted her focus to medicine, earning her MD, MS, and PhD and starting work as a physician in Korea. She moved to Cleveland in 1997 as a post-doctoral fellow at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and eventually became board-certified in the United States. She has established a successful career and is now a staff physician, hematopathologist, medical director, and assistant professor at the Cleveland Clinic; vice president of the International Society of Laboratory Hematology; and journal editor, publishing over 100 peer-reviewed articles. It was in her early days in Cleveland that she rekindled her passion for piano after discovering the Cleveland Institute of Music and Cleveland Orchestra, first taking lessons with Sergei Babayan and now with Shuai Wang. With her two sons now grown, she has more time to devote to her musical growth. Heesun Joyce Rogers is also an avid traveler—she has visited 17 countries across four continents and looks forward to continue growing that list. Show less