bio

Pianist Rosa Soonjae Park received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the State University of New York, Stony Brook.

Dr. Park is an active collaborative pianist in the Tri-State area and is a staff pianist at the Mannes School of Music. She is the founder and chair of International Grande Music Competition and Bellagrande International Music Competition. Additionally, Dr. Park organizes the IGMC Community Service Concerts at the Mount Sinai Hospitals, retirement communities and senior living centers in New York City and New Jersey.

Dr. Park was born in Seoul, Korea where she began studying the piano at age five. At the age of eight, she made her first orchestral appearance with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. Since then, she has been a soloist with many other orchestras including the St. Petersburg Classic Orchestra of Russia, Merida State Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, Cluj-Napoca State Philharmonic of Romania, Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra of Yugoslavia, Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra of New York, Nutley Symphony Orchestra of New Jersey, KBS Symphony Orchestra, Busan Philharmonic Orchestra, and Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra of Korea.

Dr. Park has performed numerous solo and chamber music concerts in New York City including Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, Bruno Walter Auditorium, Carnegie Zenkel Hall, and Carnegie Weill Recital Hall. She has also given recitals in North America and Asia.

Dr. Park has been the recipient of many awards and scholarships and has won first prize in several national competitions in Korea. In the United States, she received the J & R Lhevinne Scholarship at The Juilliard School. She was also awarded first prize in the New York Music Teachers’ Association Competition, the Kingsville International Young Performers’ Competition, the San Angelo Symphony Competition, the Nutley Symphony Young Artists Competition, the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, and the New Orleans International Piano Competition, among others.

She has appeared on Korea’s most prominent TV program giving a special concert and an interview on the Korea Broadcasting System (KBS). In New York City, her performances have been broadcasted on a classical music program on WZRC, Radio Korea New York.

Dr. Park studied under Professors Haewon Chang and Jinwoo Chung of Korea, and Professors Josef Raieff and Martin Canin at Juilliard. Dr. Park was a former piano and chamber music faculty at the Diller-Quaile School of Music, Third Street Music School Settlement and New York Music School. Her former piano students have included Lady Gaga.