Washington, D.C. based percussionist Emily Park is a dedicated performer and music educator. Emily graduated with distinction from the Eastman of Music in Rochester, New York with degrees in Percussion Performance and Music Education, as well as a Catherine Filene Shouse Certificate in Arts Leadership. At Eastman, Emily studied with world renowned performer and pedagogue Michael Burritt, as well as with Bill Cahn (founder of percussion group Nexus), John Beck (Professor Emeritus of Percussion), Chip Ross (timpanist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra), and Rich Thompson (drummer for the Count Basie Orchestra). Her former teachers include Tony Ames (principal percussionist of the National Symphony Orchestra), Cristobal Gajardo, and Heather Borsum.

An avid solo performer, Emily has performed solo recitals on the Millenium Stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and in Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music. As a chamber and ensemble musician, she has participated in a variety of performance groups at Carnegie Hall, Kodak Hall, and The Peabody Institute. Emily had the honor of performing with the Eastman Percussion Ensemble at the Percussive Arts Society’s International Convention (PASIC) in 2014 as the winner of their International Percussion Ensemble Competition. She has performed a variety of chamber percussion works, including the world premier of Ivan Trevino’s iconic sextet, Catching Shadows. In addition, Emily has acted as Principal Percussionist and Principal Timpanist with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the Eastman Philharmonia, and the National Symphony Orchestra’s Summer Music Institute Orchestra. At Eastman, Emily acted as Principal Timpanist for Jeff Beal’s premier of the House of Cards Symphony at Kodak Hall in Rochester, New York. Her performance seminar and festival experiences have spanned from contemporary music festivals, to marimba seminars, to Broadway percussion institutes, and timpani intensive studies.

Emily is a passionate music educator to students of all ages. Emily maintains a private studio for percussion and drum set students in the Washington metropolitan area. In addition, she currently serves as the Director of Instrumental Music at Maret School and as an Early Childhood Music Teacher for Levine Music in Washington, D.C. She teaches and works with students in schools in Montgomery County Public Schools, D.C. Public Schools, and a variety of private schools in the area. While at Eastman, Emily was involved in multiple programs at the Eastman Community Music School (ECMS). At ECMS, she served as a teacher for the prestigious under the tutelage of Donna Brink Fox in the Early Childhood Music Program, working with children ages 4 months to 6 years. She also mentored and acted as a practice buddy for teenage students in the Rochester City School District through the Pathways Program at ECMS. She completed her student teaching in elementary, middle, and high school placements in Rochester in the fall of 2015.

Emily is especially passionate about the music education of children and adults with cognitive and physical disabilities. Through the Arts Leadership Program at Eastman, Emily held two internships in Music Therapy. She served as a Music Therapy Intern at the National Children’s Medical Center (Children’s Hospital) in Washington, D.C. where she worked with patients in the emergency room, dialysis unit, pain clinic, blood clinic, NICU, and oncology unit. She also worked as a Music Therapy Intern at the Hochstein School of Music and Dance in Rochester, New York. At Hochstein, Emily taught adaptive percussion lessons for music therapy clients with autism, intellectual disabilities, and physical disabilities. Emily volunteers as a “bandaide” for the interPLAY Orchestra, a band for adults with and without cognitive/physical disabilities at Strathmore Music Center in Maryland.