Chung Park, conductor

Chung Park is quickly establishing himself amongst the finest of the next generation of American conductors. Eminent composer Steve Reich described his conducting as “revelatory” and called him “a young conductor to keep an ear and eye on”. Critic Lawrence Johnson of the Miami Herald hailed his recent performance of the Mahler/Stein 4th Symphony as “alert and well paced” and his conducting of the Debussy Afternoon of a Faun as “lucid and refined”.Mr. Park has worked with some of today’s finest soloists, including trumpeters Marc Reese of the Empire Brass and Craig Morris, former principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with pianist Lori Sims, winner of the 1996 Gina Bachauer Piano Competition, and Monica Yunus of the Metropolitan Opera.Currently, Mr. Park serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Miami based chamber orchestra Project Copernicus. He has also just been appointed Director of Orchestral Activities and Artist/Teacher of Upper Strings at the University of North Dakota and Music Director of the Greater Grand Forks Youth Symphony. Park holds degrees from the University of Illinois, Western Michigan University, the Peabody Conservatory, and is currently completing his doctoral studies at the University of Miami where he was the recipient of the Presser Foundation Music Prize and the UM Alumni Association Student of Distinction Award. Further studies include the Pierre Monteux School, the South Carolina Conductor's Institute, Tafelmusik Institute in Toronto, Ontario, Aspen Music Festival, and the International Festival-Institute at Roundtop, Texas, where two groups he led were chosen to perform on the "Best of the Summer" concerts during consecutive summers.Mr. Park has performed in masterclasses for Marin Alsop, Andrey Boreyko, Per Brevig, Raymond Harvey, Catherine Comet, Pascal Verrot and Jorge Mester. Following his master's work at the University of Illinois, Park studied viola in Hannover, Germany with Hatto Beyerle of the Alban Berg Quartet.Prior positions include Acting Director of Orchestra activities at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, Music Director of the Young Musician’s Orchestra in Coral Gables, FL, the University of Chicago and Indiana University - South Bend. Park served as conductor of the Western Michigan University Chamber Orchestra and Opera Theater. He was also Music Director of the South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestras. Mr. Park conducted an all-Hovhaness concert in May 2006 with the Filharmonia Bourgas (Bulgaria), underwritten by a grant from the Theodore Presser Foundation. A CD of this program, recorded with the Frost Symphony Orchestra, is slated for release on Centaur Records in 2007.Active as a clinician, educator and in community outreach. Mr Park has a special interest in providing musical experiences to people who are not served by traditional musical outreach programs. Park has worked with special needs children through the music program at Creative Children’s Therapy in Miami and is working with Project Copernicus Co-Artistic Director Steve Danyew on music programs for people in Hospice, the homeless, children in foster care and those who are incarcerated. In addition, he served as guest conductor and clinician in January 2006 for the Hillsborough County All County Festival in Tampa, Florida, and conducts the annual "University of Miami Symphony Orchestra Kiddie Concert" with Martin Bookspan, host of "Live at Lincoln Center", as narrator. He has also appeared as guest speaker for community organizations such as the Kiwanis and Rotary Clubs.Park is a strong proponent of new music, having led works by many of today’s leading composers including Steve Reich, Paul Oehlers, Dennis Kam, Anthony Brandt, and 2006 BMI award winner Stephen Danyew.Mr. Park draws inspiration for his work from a wide variety of sources, including conductors such as Thomas Sleeper, Charles Dutoit, John Eliot Gardiner and Simon Rattle. Other influences include the art of Johannes Vermeer and Andy Goldsworthy, the writings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, filmmaker Akira Kurosawa and the artistic endeavors of the Kronos Quartet. Mr. Park is an avid runner, cyclist, amateur chef, mushroomer, wild food enthusiast and organic gardener with a special interest in heritage or heirloom vegetables. Mr. Park recently completed his first marathon, the Miami Tropical Marathon, in January of 2007 and is training for the 2008 Fargo, ND marathon.