Dr. Mindy Park recently completed her Ph.D. in Music Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She holds a Master of Music in Music Education from Boston University, a Bachelor in Music and Artist Diploma in Cello Performance from the Colburn Conservatory of Music. Prior to her doctoral studies, Dr. Park was on the cello faculty at the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music: Music Academy and the Music Institute of Chicago. She was invited as a masterclass and guest artist-teacher, holding several artist-teacher residencies around the country.

Not only does she have a passion for teaching and music education, she also performs regularly as a solo cellist and chamber musician. Dr. Park has garnered top prizes in cello performance from the Irving M. Klein International String Competition, the Corpus Christi International Competition, the Aspen Summer Music Festival Low Strings Competition, and the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) National Solo Competition. Her performances were featured on PBS television, Chicago WFMT 98.7’s Introductions and Impromptu series, and invited as a guest soloist in Chicago’s Ravinia Music Festival.

Dr. Park’s research interests are centered around musical creativity and student-centered teaching, examining string education and pedagogy with critical perspectives and exploring diverse and inclusive teaching methods in private teaching and string classrooms. She has presented and published her work regarding student-centered music teaching in conferences and journals.