A native of Petaling Jaya, P’ng Tean Hwa is currently Professor and Director of the Institute of Music at UCSI University in Kuala Lumpur, where he has served since 1997. At UCSI University, he is a long-standing member of the University Examination Board, a member of the University Council in 2016–2020, and has served as the Chair of the Senate Learning and Teaching Committee in 2007–2010. He has played an active role in establishing UCSI University’s International Piano Festival and Competition (serving as the chair of the judging panel for the Finals round) as well as the Piano Pedagogy Conference, which are held biennially in alternate years since 2014.

Alongside his teaching duties and leadership roles at the university, Tean Hwa has been actively involved with performances, both locally and abroad. Over the years, he has appeared in numerous public concerts as a soloist as well as collaborative pianist in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, Hungary, and the USA. As a clinician, he has presented numerous lectures, workshops, and seminars to both piano teachers and the general audience. He has conducted many piano masterclasses nationally and internationally, most recently in Armenia as a Guest International Distinguished Professor in the Meknark State Target Developing Program for specially-selected young Armenian pianists. He is frequently invited to serve as a guest examiner and also to adjudicate competitions, including the 2^nd Thailand Mozart International Competition, the Ars Nova Competition in Singapore, the Asia International Piano Competition in Taiwan and in South Korea, and the 5^th German Irmler (Qingdao) International Piano Competition in Qingdao, China. He has also been invited to contribute as a blind peer reviewer for several music journals.

Tean Hwa holds a doctoral degree in piano performance and literature from West Virginia University, master’s and bachelor’s degrees in piano performance from Western Illinois University, and the FTCL and LTCL diplomas in piano performance from Trinity College of Music. His principal piano teachers include Mdm. Lucy Loong, Mr. Eric Leong, the late Dr. James Vadiveloo, Mdm. Margaret Yoong, Prof. Emeritus Dr. Michael Campbell and Prof. Dr. Peter Amstutz.

In addition, Tean Hwa also holds a chemical engineering degree from Universiti Malaya and a Postgraduate Diploma in Tertiary Teaching from UCSI University. He is a life member of the national scholastic honor society of Phi Kappa Phi in the USA.