Seo Yon Park

Seo Yon Park is a South Korean violinist and educator whose career combines a strong commitment to music education with extensive solo, orchestral, and chamber music experience. She holds a Doctor of Music degree in Violin Performance with a minor in Music Education from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she also earned her Master of Music degree. She received her Bachelor of Music from Oberlin College and Conservatory and is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy.

As an educator, Seo Yon is passionate about helping students develop strong technical foundations, musical independence, and confidence in their individual artistic voices. In 2025, she joined the Indiana University String Academy as a violin faculty member, working under the guidance of renowned pedagogues Mimi Zweig and Brenda Brenner. She has also taught at the Western Kentucky University Summer String Institute and the Hilltop String Festival. From 2022 to 2024, she served as an Associate Instructor of Violin at Indiana University, where she taught elective and secondary violin students. Her previous teaching experience includes serving as an Associate Instructor at Oberlin Conservatory and as an assistant violin teacher at Fairview Elementary School. She has also contributed to community music education initiatives, including Kids’ Compose, working with young students in local elementary schools.

An active performer, she currently serves as Associate Concertmaster of the Bryan Symphony Orchestra and Paducah Symphony Orchestra. She previously served as Concertmaster of the Oberlin Orchestra and was a member of the One-Korea Youth Orchestra under conductor Myung-whun Chung. Her solo appearances include performances of the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Lima Symphony Orchestra and the Bruch Violin Concerto with the Chuncheon Youth Orchestra. An experienced chamber musician, she has performed in a wide range of ensembles, including string trios, string quartets, piano trios, piano quartets, and collaborations with voice. Her recent chamber music engagements include faculty recitals at Taylor University and Western Kentucky University.

Seo Yon is a prizewinner of several competitions, including Second Prize at the International Artists Competition and First Prize at both the Lima Young Artist Competition and the Alexander & Buono International String Competition. As a winner of the Alexander & Buono competition, she performed at Carnegie Hall. Her other performance appearances include Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul, Studzinski Recital Hall, Auer Hall, Finney Chapel at Oberlin Conservatory, Salon de Musique in Seoul, and concerts in the Czech Republic.

She has also attended numerous festivals and programs, including the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, Saar International Violin Festival, Aspen Music Festival and School, Great Mountains Music Festival, Meadowmount School of Music, and Litomyšl Master Class in the Czech Republic. She was also selected to participate in the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra in 2020, though the program was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through her work as both an educator and performer, Seo Yon strives to create a supportive and engaging learning environment in which students can build healthy technique, deepen their musical understanding, and discover the joy of communicating through the violin.