Born in Seoul in 1990, JongHai Park started playing the piano thanks to his mother’s influence (she had studied the cello). He graduated from Yewon Music School, Seoul Arts High School and Korean National University of Arts, taking an elite educational path for Korean musicians. He has won second prize at Nagoya Competition (2008), Hong Kong Competition (2008), Dublin Competition (2009) and Géza Anda Competition (2018). Ever since he was a student, he has attracted Korean fans with his powerful and bold performances. In his Mozart, he carefully brings out the musical structure while withdrawing his ego into the background, and in his Bach, he enlivens the fugal structure by judiciously focusing on sound quality. He now seeks to solidify his identity as an improviser; like Gabriela Montero, he is planning a series of concerts in which the performer and the audience interact on the spot to produce a setlist together. Unlike the spontaneity of jazz, which drapes an improvised melody on top of a predetermined chord progression, Park’s improvisation is actually re-composition based upon his vast musical knowledge.
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