The Korean pianist, Phoenix Park-Kim, began playing the piano at the age of 5 and gave her first public performance at 7 years old. Since then she has delighted audiences in recital, orchestral, and chamber music performances. In 1997 she graduated summa cum laude from Yonsei University in Seoul, where she received in 1999 Bachelors degrees in both Piano Performance and English Literature. In 1999, she came to the USA to study with Dr. Lian Tan at Miami University on a full tuition scholarship, where she received in 2001 a Masters of Music and served as a graduate teaching assistant.. In 2005 she completed the Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance at the University of Missouri in Kansas City, Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Dr. Robert Weirich and served as his teaching assistant.
Phoenix Park-Kim has won numerous scholarship awards and piano competitions, including 1st place in the Miami Concerto Competition, the Jefferson City Concerto Competition and Kansas City Philharmonia Concerto Competition. In addition, she has also appeared as a soloist with the Korean Philharmonic Orchestra, Marion Philharmonic Orchestra and the UMKC Conservatory Orchestra.
Phoenix Park-Kim enjoys a varied career as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. She has performed in various music festivals including the Aspen Summer Music Festival, ARIA International Summer Academy, and the Summer Music School in Siena, Italy. She has collaborated with many ensembles including the Oxford String Quartet. In addition to traditional performances in concert halls, she is dedicated to bringing music to the underserved public as well as providing more exposure to musical compositions that are little known. She was awarded the Lilly research grant which enabled her to conduct research on classical piano music written by African Americans. Her next recording project-stemming from this research-will be classical piano works by African American composers.
Dr. Phoenix Park-Kim has received the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award from UMKC for superior teaching as recognized by both students and professors. She joined the faculty at Indiana Wesleyan University in 2005, where she holds the position of Assistant Professor of Music and teaches Applied Piano, Class Piano, Keyboard Literature and coordinates the Accompanying Program.
