Laura Park, Violin

Biography

Laura Park, 18 (in 2012), began her violin studies at the age of five and is currently the recipient of the Kathy and Gerhard Bette Academy Fellowship at the Music Institute of Chicago's Senior Academy program for gifted pre-college musicians where she studies privately with artist faculty members Almita and Roland Vamos.

Laura has been titled as first laureate of many competitions, including the Chautauqua Music Festival’s Sigma Alpha Iota Concerto Competition, Walgreens National Concerto Competition, ADM Young Artists Concerto Competition, Union League and Civic Arts Foundation’s Scholarship Auditions, Musician’s Club of Women Scholarship Auditions, Harper Young Artist Competition, DePaul Concerto Competition, Society of American Musicians Competition, Sejong Music Competition, and Confucius Competition. Other awards include those from the Cooper International Violin Competition, where she won third prize, the Crain-Maling Foundation Chicago Symphony Orchestra Youth Auditions, the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and the Lipizer International Violin Competition held in Gorizia Italy, where she won the fourth prize, along with a special award for her “strong artistic temperament”.

Laura has been featured as a soloist with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Jahja Ling, Orchestra Filarmonica “Paul Constantinescu” Di Ploiesti Romania under Maestro Ovidiu Balan, Oistrakh Symphony Orchestra, North Suburban Symphony Orchestra, Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Harper Symphony Orchestra, Fremd Symphony Orchestra, and Midwest Young Artist Orchestras. She has also starred on From the Top, 98.7 WFMT Introductions, the Young Steinway Concert Series, ABC7 Chicago, Vermont Public Television, and the Kennedy Center’s Millenium Stage Concert Series. Along with her solo work, Laura is also an active ensemble musician at the Music Institute of Chicago. She is concertmaster of the Academy Chamber Orchestra. Previous chamber music awards include gold medals at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the St. Paul String Quartet Competition, the Music in the Loft/Society of American Musicians' Jules M. Laser Chamber Music Competition, and the Rembrandt Chamber Players Competition.