NJYS Featured

Piano Master Class with Jihea Hong-Park

Monday, April 26 ⋅ 7:00-8:15 p.m. EST

SIGN UP HERE for this FREE Master Class!

Zoom link will be sent by email from info@njys.org.

Korean American pianist Jihea Hong-Park enjoys a versatile and active career as a recitalist, educator, chamber musician, teaching artist, workshop presenter, and interdisciplinary arts collaborator. She has been featured at major venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Merkin Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Steinway Hall, The Kosciusko Foundation, the Bar Harbor Music Festival, and Caramoor Summer Music Festival.  She has appeared on concert stages internationally including performances at the International  Symposium and Festival of the Centre of Intercultural Music Arts at the University of  Cambridge in England, Incheon Performing Arts Center in South Korea, Yun I-Sang Concert  Hall in North Korea, and Komae Ecorma Hall and Niigata Performing Arts Center in Japan. In 2019, Hong-Park co-hosted a series of five New York Philharmonic Young People’s Concerts entitled “Coming to New York – Immigrant Voices” alongside the Omaha Symphony’s music director, Thomas Wilkins at David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center.

Hong-Park currently holds the position of Associate Professor of Piano at Brigham Young University. Prior to her appointment at BYU, she taught on the piano faculty at The Juilliard School’s Evening Division for 14 years and was a lead teaching artist at the New York Philharmonic. As a guest artist, she has performed and presented at prestigious institutions such as Tokyo College of Music, Niigata University, St. Francis College, Stevens Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, and Brigham Young University. Through master classes,  lectures, and chamber music instruction, she has also worked with students from across the world  including Showa University, Kobe College, Osaka University of the Arts, Juilliard’s Pre College, Missouri State University, Grand Valley State University, Montclair State University’s  Preparatory Center for the Arts, Piano Sonoma Music Festival, Ernest So Master Class Series in  Hong Kong, and Gitameit Music Institute in Myanmar.

As an avid workshop facilitator, Hong-Park has presented at the International Teaching Artist Conference, College Music Society’s National Conferences, Korea Arts & Culture Education Service, and New York City Department of Education. Recently, she has been invited to present a workshop entitled “A Year of Experimentation: Piano Studio as a Place of Belonging, Engagement, and Ownership” at the 2021 National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy. Her scholarly interests include the integration of performance and education through teaching artistry, career development, and entrepreneurship skills for musicians, student-centered teaching in applied instruction, the music of women and composers of color, and social consciousness, activism, and advocacy through the arts.

Hong-Park is deeply committed to providing access to and education for the arts to serve as an advocate for music. She has organized and established numerous community concert residencies and projects to raise funds for non-profit organizations and bring arts to underserved communities. Her recent professional activities include a workshop on “Orchestra: An  Indispensable Link Between Artists and Its Community” as a guest speaker for the Seoul  Philharmonic Orchestra and a presentation on “Artists as Engaged Citizens; Artists as Leaders”  for the Socially Engaged Musicians (SEM) Network. In recognition of her leadership in arts education, she has been featured in select interviews and documentaries on Educational Broadcasting System network in Korea.

Hong-Park is a founding member of the Ardelia Trio, praised by Korea’s EBS Network Evening News as “…something very special and unique…” Enthusiastic about contemporary  music, the trio held their debut recital at Carnegie’s Weill Hall in 2012 featuring commissioned  works of Cypriot composer Sophia Serghi. The trio aims to bridge the gap between performers and audience through interactive concerts. Hong-Park was integral in establishing a community concert residency in Korea in partnership with the community organization Mécénat.  The trio received $25,000 from Korea’s Posco in support of their endeavors.

Hong-Park received her B.M. and M.M. degrees at The Juilliard School and pursued advanced coursework at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her principal teachers include Julian Martin, Jacob Lateiner, and Bruce Brubaker. Upon her graduation from Juilliard, she received the school’s highest award, William Schuman Commencement Prize for her exceptional achievement, leadership, and service in music.

Hong-Park has served as a juror for the MTNA Eastern Division Competition in both the Senior Piano Performance and Senior Piano Duet divisions, MTNA Piano Competition in the state level, International Virtuoso Competition, Encore Keyboard Competition, and Music Educators Association of New Jersey.