fall of 2000, Cha-Pyo conducted the world premiere performance of "No Easy Walk to Freedom," an opera based on the life of Nelson Mandela, at the New Opera Festival at Hofstra University. Cha-Pyo was the Music Director and Conductor of the Empire State Youth Orchestra in Albany, New York from September 2002 to June 2018. Cha-Pyo was named Artistic Director Designate of the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts and Conductor of the New Jersey Youth Symphony starting July 2018. She served as the Adjunct Professor of Orchestral Studies and Conductor of the Montclair State University Symphony Orchestra (NJ) in 2019. She also conducted the Nebraska All-State Festival Orchestra in the Fall of 2018, the American String Teachers Association National Festival's Orchestra in New Mexico, and the Oregon Youth Orchestra in Newport, OR, both in the Spring of 2019. Personal life She resides in Morristown, New Jersey with her husband and two sons. References American classical organists Living people Musicians from Seoul Women conductors (music) Year of birth missing (living people) South Korean emigrants to the United States Women organists 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American women musicians 21st-century organists 21st-century American keyboardists