Pianist Jihea Hong-Park enjoys a versatile and vibrant career as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative pianist. She has performed at major venues across the United States, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Merkin Hall, The DiMenna Center, The Kosciuszko Foundation, Brevard Music Center’s Parker Concert Hall, the Bar Harbor Music Festival, and the Caramoor Summer Music Festival. Her international performances have taken her to distinguished concert halls and festivals throughout Europe and Asia, including the International Symposium and Festival of the Centre for Intercultural Music Arts at the University of Cambridge (England); Seoul Arts Center and Namhansansung Arts Hall (South Korea); Yun I-Sang Concert Hall (North Korea); Komae Ecorma Hall and Niigata Performing Arts Center (Japan); Stockholm Cathedral (Sweden); Maarja-Magdaleena Lutheran Church (Estonia); and Riga Dome Cathedral (Latvia).

Hong-Park has also performed at academic institutions including Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Chuncheon National University of Education, Tokyo College of Music, the University of North Texas, UCLA, the University of Southern California, William & Mary, Rutgers University, and the University of Central Florida. As a concerto soloist, she has appeared with ensembles such as the BYU Wind Symphony, Pyongyang University’s Music and Dance Orchestra, Dallas Asian Winds, Timpanogos Symphony Orchestra, and Ureuk Symphony Orchestra, among others. Most recently, her solo and chamber performances at the DMZ Open International Music Festival were broadcast on Orfeo TV, Korea’s premier classical music channel. A passionate advocate for contemporary music, Hong-Park has premiered works by internationally acclaimed composers, including Sophia Serghi, Jean Ahn, Hee Yun Kim, Steven Ricks, Gui Sook Lee, and Eric Sessler. In 2028, she will give the world premiere of a new work for two pianos and two percussionists by Robin Haigh, winner of the 2026 Barlow Prize, as a member of the Riot Picnic.

Hong-Park currently serves as Professor of Piano at Brigham Young University. She received her B.M. and M.M. degrees from The Juilliard School and pursued five years of postgraduate studies at Teachers College, Columbia University. Upon her graduation from Juilliard, she received the school’s highest award, the William Schuman Commencement Prize, for her exceptional achievement, leadership, and service in music. She subsequently served on the faculty of The Juilliard School for fourteen years and currently serves on the artist faculty at Brevard Music Center in North Carolina during the summers, one of the country’s premier summer festivals for gifted young musicians.

At BYU, her collegiate and pre-college students have earned numerous awards in international, national, and regional competitions. Her students have received first-place prizes at competitions and festivals including the Utah Symphony’s Salute to Youth Concerto Competition, San Francisco International Piano Competition, Walgreens National Concerto Competition, International Keyboard Odyssiad & Festival Competition, Radda Rise International Piano Competition, Bay Area International Piano Competition, Emory Young Artist Piano Competition, Utah Music Teachers Association (UMTA) Concerto Competition, University of Utah’s Liszt Festival Piano Competition, BYU Concerto Competition, and Young Collaborative Pianists Competition. Her students have also distinguished themselves in the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Piano Competition at the Southwest Division, advancing to the National Finals multiple times.

Many of these accomplishments have led to student concerto performances with the Utah Symphony, BYU Philharmonic Orchestra, BYU Symphony Orchestra, Timpanogos Symphony Orchestra, Utah Philharmonic Orchestra, American Fork Symphony, and American West Symphony. Hong-Park’s commitment to mentorship extends beyond performance, as she encourages her students to pursue scholarly interests alongside their musical development. Under her mentorship, students have presented their academic research at the MTNA National Conference, National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, MTNA National Collegiate Symposium, and College Music Society Regional Conference.

A highly regarded masterclass clinician and guest lecturer, Hong-Park has worked with students and musicians at institutions around the world, including Showa University, Kobe College, Osaka University of the Arts, Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, McGill University, Hansei University, Boston University, the University of Southern California, the University of Oregon, Ohio University, Missouri State University, Grand Valley State University, Loyola University New Orleans, Eastern Mennonite University, Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts, the Gifted Music School, and Gitameit Music Institute.

Her commitment to teaching and artistic mentorship extends into her scholarly work. An avid researcher, Hong-Park has presented her research at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s International Arts Symposium, the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, the College Music Society National Conferences, the MTNA National Conference, and the International Teaching Artist Conference. She is also a frequent guest speaker for organizations and institutions including the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the Palmetto International Piano Festival, the Peace & Life Zone (PLZ) Music Festival @ DMZ Korea, the Socially Engaged Musicians Network Forum of Korea, the Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and the New York City Department of Education. In 2023, she delivered the keynote address at the UMTA Annual State Conference. Her interdisciplinary scholarship explores career development for musicians, entrepreneurship and leadership in the performing arts, interdisciplinary arts collaboration, Asian American studies in classical music, the music of women and composers of color, and social consciousness, activism, and advocacy for the arts.

Hong-Park has served as a juror for numerous competitions and festivals. Her professional service includes current appointments on the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation’s University Advisory Board, the 2027 National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy International Committee, and Korea’s Socially Engaged Musicians Network Advisory Board. Her contributions to the profession have been recognized with the 2025 BYU Class of 1949 Young Faculty Award, the 2024 BYU Faculty Women’s Association Award in Excellence in Creative Works, and the 2023 Utah Valley Magazine Fab40 Award.

She lives in Alpine, UT with her husband, Jun, and their three children. Outside of her professional life, she finds great joy in cheering on her children at their football and cheerleading events and unwinding with K-Dramas on Netflix.