Clinician Detail

Chung Park - Biographical Information

Dr. Chung Park is a nationally-recognized conductor, music educator, and editor. He serves as the conductor of the award-winning St. Olaf Orchestra and began conducting the St. Olaf Philharmonia in the fall of 2023. Dr. Park maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor in both the professional and educational realms, with engagements including the Sarasota Orchestra, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, and student honor orchestras in Tennessee, North Dakota, North Carolina, Utah, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Washington State, Florida, and Georgia. Dr. Park has given masterclasses at top institutions like the Gifted Music School in Salt Lake City and presents on string pedagogy and music education for teachers throughout the UnitedStates. Deeply engaged in the life of the American music education community, Dr. Park has given hundreds of clinics in schools throughout the United States for all levels and ensemble types. Internationally-preeminent publisher Bärenreiter-Verlag released the Six Suites for Violoncello Solo by J.S. Bach transcribed for viola in a new edition prepared by Dr. Park in the spring of 2023.Dr. Park comes to St. Olaf College most recently from the University of Central Florida (U.C.F.), where he served as conductor of the U.C.F. Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, head of string music education, and instructor of viola. Prior appointments include positions at Appalachian State University, the Idaho State-Civic Symphony, Idaho State University, Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, the University of Chicago, the University of North Dakota, and Indiana University-South Bend. Park earned his doctorate in instrumental conducting from the University of Miami, and holds M.M. degrees in orchestral conducting (University of Illinois) and viola performance (Western Michigan University), and a B.M. in viola performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. He studied viola in Hanover, Germany with Hatto Beyerle of the Alban Berg Quartet. He continued his studies at the Aspen Music Festival, Pierre Monteux School, the South Carolina Conductor’s Institute, Tafelmusik Institute in Toronto, Ontario, and the International Festival-Institute at Roundtop, Texas. Ensembles have received wide critical acclaim under Dr. Park’s baton. Eminent composer Steve Reich described his conducting as “revelatory” and exclaimed after listening to a performance of his work Proverb, ”Now I know it can rock!” Critic Lawrence Johnson of the Miami Herald hailed his performance of Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale as “masterfully directed” and his conducting of Debussy’s Afternoon of a Faun as “lucid and  refined.” The Frost Symphony Orchestra/Park recording of works by Alan Hovhaness on Centaur Records has received excellent reviews, most notably from Gramophone Magazine, which proclaimed that the disc provides “hours of listening enjoyment.” Classics Today gave the album “10/10” for both engineering and quality of performance. The Orlando Sentinel wrote that the U.C.F. Symphony Orchestra produced “rich waves of sound” during their performance of Oklahoma! at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing ArtsDr. Park draws inspiration for his work from a wide variety of sources, including conductors such as Thomas Sleeper and Simon Rattle. His favorite authors include His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Pema Chödrön, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Wendell Berry.