Eun-Hee Park to Serve as New Assistant Professor of Music, Rawlins Piano Trio Member
Park, a pianist, will also join the Rawlins Piano Trio.
“I am beyond thrilled and grateful to join the established faculty members at the Department of Music at USD,” said Park. “My position at USD offers everything I have dreamed about: being a pianist of the renowned Rawlins Piano Trio, educating and nurturing future generations of musicians and music educators, and collaborating with talented and passionate faculty musicians, students and guest artists. I am eagerly looking forward to engaging myself in the vibrant musical community at USD and contributing to its continued success.”
Praised by The New York Concert Review for “a solid foundation of fluent pianism” after her debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Park enjoys a diverse career as soloist, chamber musician, and educator.
She has given numerous concerts throughout the United States, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Brazil and Costa Rica, appearing in various prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Seoul Arts Center in South Korea and Izumi Hall in Japan.
Park has been a recipient of many awards including the Special Prize for the Performance of Contemporary Music at the Competition Internationale in Santa Fe, New Mexico, first prize at the Oklahoma’s Young Artists Competition and first prize at the Concerto Competition at Colorado Mesa University. She has received numerous grants, such as Music Fellowship Grant by Alabama Arts Council, Teaching & Scholarship Project Grant, Research & Creative Projects Grant, Concert & Lecture Grant, Graduate Student Academic Conference Grant, University Musical Associates Grant, and the James and Lola Faust Chamber Music Scholarship of the Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation.
As a founding member of enhakē, the prize-winning clarinet-violin-cello-piano quartet, Park has received many awards and grants, including Global Music Award’s Silver Medal in Chamber Music Category, First Prize at the Yellow Springs International Competition, Gold Medal at the International Chamber Music Ensemble Competition, the Judges Special Recognition Prize at the Plowman Chamber Music Competition, and an Encore Grant from the American Composers Forum. The group has released albums on the Naxos, Emeritus, MSR Classics, and Capstone labels, some of which were featured on NPR stations and the Korean Broadcasting System. The Naxos album Gulfstream was selected as BBC Music Magazine’s Music US Choice, MusicWeb International's "CD of the Month," and Naxos Critics’ Choice. Concerning this particular album, Gramophone stated, “[p]ianist Eun-Hee Park's fast, light-fingered touch...provides numerous moments of purely physical delight."
A dedicated teacher, Park has held educational residencies at Escape2Create at the Seaside Institute in Florida and with Albany Symphony Orchestra, Tallahassee Youth Orchestras and the Costa Rican-North American Cultural Center. She has given masterclasses at numerous universities and high schools in the United States, South Korea, Costa Rica, and Brazil as well as frequently invited as adjudicator and judge for competitions and auditions national wide.
Most recently, Park was an associate professor of music and head of the keyboard area at the University of Montevallo. Her previous appointments include the Hartt School, Music in the Mountains Conservatory, University of Southern Mississippi, Southern Mississippi Piano Institute, Westport School of Music, the Chapel Hill Chamber Music Workshop, Interlochen Arts Camp, Oklahoma City University, and Albany Symphony Orchestra.
Park received degrees from the Florida State University (D.M.), Oklahoma City University (M.M.), and Colorado Mesa University (B.A.). Her teachers include Carolyn Bridger, Amy I-Lin Cheng, Ernestine Scott, Michael Baron, Timothy Olsen (Organ), and Karyl Louwenaar (Harpsichord).
"I am so excited to have Dr. Park join our faculty and our trio," said Bruce Kelley, Ph.D., College of Fine Arts dean. "She is an amazing pianist and educator, and she connected meaningfully with our students during the search process. The Rawlins Trio is recognized internationally for their work, and Dr. Park will add her own artistic touch to this group’s marvelous legacy."