She is a violinist who aspires to become one of the best, and at fourteen years of age has already accomplished much towards that dream. Grace Park, a Korean American native to Los Angeles, began studying violin at the age of 5 and has since participated in numerous musical competitions, orchestral performances, and broadcasts on both radio and television.
One of her most recent musical achievements is a major step taken towards the further development of her musical career. Grace was invited by a Korean television station, KBS (Korean Broadcasting Station), to perform music on August 13 for a recorded program called Art Theatre. The program is an hour long, and her performance was aired on television on August 25. Though the honor of being asked to play on Art Theatre is usually reserved for those 18 years old and older, she proved to be an exception to the rule and travelled to Korea to participate.
When asked what it was like to play for KBS, Grace says that she enjoyed it, and that it was very fun. She explains that she was less nervous than usual because it was a recorded broadcast, not livethus she was able to stop if she needed to correct a mistake in her playing. For the program, she played the Meditation of Thais and Saint-Sae`ns Violin Concerto No. 3, with a piano accompaniament.
Aside from the performance itself, the trip to Korea was also a wonderful experience for the young musician because she had the opportunity to meet many Korean celebrities involved in the performing arts.
Prior to the Korean television broadcast, she has performed to live audiences in several instances, including performances as a member of the Disney Orchestra from 1997 through 1999. Playing in this orchestra included performances with Michael Bolton, Gloria Estefan, Vanessa Mae and Mark O Connor, in such venues as the Hollywood Bowl and the Lincoln Metropolitan Opera House in New York. She also played with the California State University, Los Angeles Orchestra in 1996 and had live broadcasts on the local radio stations KKGO and KUSC.
What does it take to be such an accomplished musician? For starters, Grace practices her violin three hours a day during the week and 6 hours on weekends . She is a very motivated violinist and admits that her mom helps her to get her practicing done, but she practices even while her mom is not there to remind her to do so. Her favorite musicians to play are Mozart and Tchaikovsky. Her role model is Itzahk Perlman.
Currently a student at Crossroads School in Santa Monica, she is an active member of the Colburn Orchestra at the Colburn School of Performing Arts and the Crossroads Chamber Orchestra.