Chaeyoung Park has been praised as a passionate pianist who “does not play a single note without thought or feeling” (New York Concert Review). Embracing a broad range of classical music literature, her programs feature works ranging from the early French Baroque by Rameau to Beethoven sonatas as well as new music by living composers including South Korean classical composer Unsuk Chin. Through Park’s various roles as a recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist, she has performed at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall and Symphony Center’s Orchestra Hall as well as livestreamed concerts presented by the Gilmore Rising Stars series, the Carlsen Center and the Lied Center of Kansas.
As winner of the 2019 Hilton Head International Piano Competition, Park is the first female Korean pianist to receive first place in the history of the competition. She subsequently presented her solo recital debut at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra under the baton of John Morris Russell.
An avid chamber musician, Park participated in Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Kneisel Hall, Juilliard ChamberFest, and YoungArts Week, which awarded her the prestigious Gold Medal in Music. While working under renowned artists such as Leon Fleisher, Frans Helmerson, Gary Hoffman and Robert Levin, she has collaborated with the most promising young artists of her generation. She also regularly performs with orchestras around the U.S., including the Juilliard chamber orchestra (which she conducted from the keyboard while performing the second movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 12), as well as the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra with Neil Varon, Utah Symphony Orchestra with Rei Hotoda, New Millennium Symphony with Francesco Milioto, Canton Symphony Orchestra with Gerhardt Zimmermann, Lake Forest Symphony with Vladimir Kulenovic and Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra with John Morris Russell.
South Korean-born, and raised in Lawrence, Kansas since age 10, Park studied piano with KU professor Jack Winerock for eight years. During that time, she was a top prizewinner in several competitions, including the 2014 Emilio Del Rosario International Piano Concerto Competition, the 2015 Cleveland International Young Artists Competition, the 2015 Yamaha USASU International Senior Piano Competition and the 2016 Gina Bachauer International Young Artists Competition.
While pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree at the Juilliard School, Park was awarded the Juilliard Gina Bachauer Scholarship, which offers a year of full tuition. For her Master of Music degree, she was named a Kovner Fellow, a prestigious merit-based fellowship covering tuition and living expenses for outstanding music students who demonstrate potential for leadership in the field. For the last five years, Park has been under the tutelage of Robert McDonald, and she is currently based in New York City.
