Album Notes

Pianist Angela Park has established herself as one of Canada's leading young musicians. Equally accomplished in both solo and chamber music experience, Angela's versatility has led to continued success in performances across Canada, and in the United States, Europe, and Mexico.
Born in London, Ontario, Angela began her studies at the age of three. Giving public performances by the age of four, Angela was recognized early on as an exceptional talent. With the guidance of James Anagnoson, she went on to become the youngest Gold Medal winner of the Western Ontario Conservatory of Music, and the recipient of numerous awards and prizes at the Ontario Provincial Festivals, Canadian National Music Festival, and the Canadian Music Competitions.
Pursuing many other interests, including violin performance at the national level for ten years, and academic studies in Biology at the University of Western Ontario, Angela eventually decided to concentrate primarily on piano performance in 1999, when she moved to Toronto to study at the University of Toronto with William Aide. She completed her Master of Music in Performance degree with highest honours in 2003. In 2004 Angela received a Chalmers Professional Development Grant from the Ontario Arts Council, which has generously funded her private studies in New York with renowned pianist and pedagogue Jacob Lateiner. She is currently pursuing her Doctoral Studies at the Université de Montréal, where she studies with Paul Stewart.
In recent years, Angela has continued her competition success in the United States, winning the grand prize at the 2001 Grace Welsh Prize for Piano, and a prize and scholarship at the 2003 World Piano Competition in Cincinnati Ohio. During the World Piano Competition, American Record Guide's Donald Vroon described Angela as a "wonderful Canadian pianist who performed with a beautiful tone and a great deal of polish", and renowned critic Gustav Alink wrote "her Schumann Fantasy was simply outstanding in atmosphere and tone! A performer to keep an eye on!" Most recently Angela was awarded the 2006 CBC Galaxie Rising Stars Award with her ensemble Made In Canada, and was also a semifinalist prizewinner and the only Canadian invited to participate in the Fifth Honens International Piano Competition.
Her experience with orchestra includes numerous appearances with Orchestra London Canada, Sinfonia Toronto, Canadian Sinfonietta, the UWO Symphony Orchestra and the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and she has worked with such conductors as Raffi Armenian, Mark Laycock and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Solo and chamber music appearances include recitals for the Steinway Society of Chicago, University of Illinois of Chicago, Montreal Debut Series, Glenn Gould Studio's Music Around Us, Les Amis Concerts, and the New York and International Viola Society Concerts with duo partner Sharon Wei. She has performed with internationally distinguished artists, including a tour of Ontario with violist Rivka Golani, and concerts with Canada's finest violinists Scott St. John, Erika Raum, Annalee Patipatanakoon, and Mark Fewer. Her live performances have been recorded and broadcast frequently on CBC National Radio and on National Public Radio in the United States.