After three-plus years of being part of the all-state orchestra, countless hours of practice and dozen of concerts, Jun Park has accomplished the great honor of becoming first chair of the all-state orchestra.
This week he was named the top violinist in the state by the Texas Music Educators Association.
It’s not just the title that Park has earned. He will also get to be the concertmaster at the TMEA all-state concert in mid-February in San Antonio.
“You get to not only lead your section, but you also lead essentially the entire orchestra,” Park said. “It’s a huge honor, and I did not expect that I would be chosen for that.”
Park has been a part of the all-state orchestra for three years now. His hard work and dedication is shown in his amazing musical career.
He started playing the violin when he was 4. He practices every day for one hour to perfect his technique and to improve his abilities. He likes performing in front of big audiences.
“Different people are affected differently by music, and I like to see what sort of effect music has on people,” he said.
One of his favorite pieces to play is the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.
“It’s the piece that got me, that sparked my passion for violin music,” Park said.
He highly appreciates the people he has got to know through his journey. Loy Studer was his orchestra teacher for three years at Rider and Kevin Nguyen is his teacher at Memorial.
“I am very appreciative of the connections that music has brought for me and the effect that I have been able to have on members of my community and people around the nation,” Park said.
Park has very big future aspirations in which music might take part.
“I plan to join an orchestra at the college that I attend, but I don’t plan on majoring in music,” Park said. “I want to major in computer engineering.”
A message that he wants to send to younger future generations of great musicians is that even though music is a very difficult journey, it is worth it.
“I would say that regardless of where you come from and what you want to do in life, I would say just keep music as a part of your life, because it’s very important in shaping your character and who you become as a person,” Park said.
