Bio
Dr. Naki Sung Kripfgans is a distinguished musician whose versatile career spans roles as a collaborative pianist, concert organist, recording artist, improviser, music educator, and choral conductor. Naki has performed internationally and regionally in North America, Europe, and Asia. Her recent performance highlights include “Chamber Music in the Age of Resistance,” which was selected and funded by the Arts Initiative Program at the University of Michigan in November 2023; a performance of Saint-Saëns’ “Organ Symphony” at Hill Auditorium in May 2024; serving as a clinician and conference organist at The Fellowship of Worship Artists’ Conference in Lake Junaluska, NC, and working as a faculty collaborative pianist for the renowned Center Stage Strings Institute in summer of 2024.
Naki holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Organ (Sacred Music) and a Master’s degree in Piano Performance from the University of Michigan, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Music from the University of Northern Iowa. Throughout her academic and professional journey, she has been the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards for piano and organ performance. She won the 2015 UM Life Sciences Orchestra Concerto Competition, which led to her performing Poulenc’s Organ Concerto at Hill Auditorium in 2016. As a virtuoso improviser, she also won the Robert Glasgow Award for Organ Improvisation at the University of Michigan in 2012 and served as a judge for the same competition in 2019. She was featured in an article series titled “Women in Improvisation,” in the December 2020 issue of the American Guild of Organists magazine.
At the University of Michigan, Naki contributes as a faculty member in the Music Program at the Residential College and as a collaborative pianist in the String Department at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance. In addition, she brings her extensive expertise and experience to her devoted role as the Director of Music and Organist at Bethlehem United Church of Christ in Ann Arbor.
