Inah Park

Inah Park was born into a musical family in Philadelphia. She grew up in South Korea studying organ from an early age. After additional studies in Germany, she is now pursuing her final studies at SMU, leading her into a professional performance career.

Inah Park started her musical career at an Arts middle school where she majored in piano. She then transitioned to organ at Arts high school. After graduating from high school she obtained her Bachelor’s degree at Yonsei University, one of the highest-ranking universities in South Korea, studying under Dr. Dong Soon Kwak. Soon after completing her Bachelor’s degree, she went to Berlin, Germany, to experience historical instruments and to study the European arts culture. She received her Diploma degree at the University of the Arts Berlin studying with Professor Paolo Crivellaro. After completing her studies in Berlin, she decided to move to Leipzig, Germany, where the famous musician Johann Sebastian Bach experienced his major and final compositional period. Inah broadened her expertise at one of Europe’s oldest and most prestigious musical institutions, the University of Music and Performing Arts “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy”, where she obtained the Meisterklasse degree (highest performance degree in Germany) in organ performance, studying with Professor Stefan Engels. In addition to the organ studies, she also studied harpsichord with Professor Mechthild Winter and music pedagogy with Dr. Professor Ines Mainz. Her Leipzig studies were supported with a scholarship from the Ad Infinitum foundation. She also served as a teaching assistant to Professor Engels. After studying in Germany, she moved to the United States to complete her studies with Professor Engels at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, in the highly selective Performers Diploma program.

Inah Park has performed in many noted venues, including St. Thomas and St. Nikolai in Leipzig, Germany, where J. S. Bach worked as a music director. She was invited to the world renowned Bach Festival in Leipzig in 2014 as a continuo player performing with the St. Thomas Choir and the Gewandhaus orchestra and was also invited to perform an Organ recital at St. Thomas. She has given many concerts internationally, such as in Germany, France, Russia, South Korea and the United States. In addition to having performed solo recitals, she has also performed with instrumentalists, singers and choirs.

Inah Park has served as Organist and Director of Music at First United Lutheran Church in Dallas, Texas. She now works at First English Lutheran Church in New Orleans, Louisiana, as an organist. She was also an accompanist for SMU’s Concert Choir.

Inah Park was a finalist in the Buxtehude Organ Competition in 2012 in Lübeck, Germany, and she has received several other prizes in South Korea.