Born into a musical family, her grandfather Byung-soh Ahn was a violinist and the founding music director of Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and her grandmother, Aene Lee, a foremost pianist in Korea and considered a national treasure.
Ahn started playing the piano at age three in her native South Korea and moved to the U.S. at age 10. studied at The Juilliard School and New England Conservatory, and her teachers include Russell Sherman, Yoheved Kaplinsky, and Menahem Pressler.