Jin Park performs Friday evening at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. Photo by Don Taylor

By Carol A. Clark

Jin Park will perform in his senior recital at 6:30 p.m., Friday June 15 at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church on Canyon Road. 

The well-known local musician is hoping many people will turn out for this very special event.

“Music has been such an influence in my life. Before leaving for school in the fall, I wanted to share what music has come to mean to me after all these years,” Park said. “To me, music is a chance to share a bit of joy with others, be it through performance or playing with other people.”

The first half of Park’s recital is solo piano and the entire second half will be devoted to collaborative work.

Jin Park will perform on both piano and violin Friday. Photo by Don Taylor

“I’ll get the chance to make music with my friends who have been with me on this whole musical ride,” Park said. “I also look forward to getting a chance to perform with Nathan Salazar, who is home during the summer before he heads off to the University of Michigan to continue his studies in collaborative piano. Nathan is known and loved around town for sharing his musical talents with the community and has been a huge mentor for me since way back when he was in high school, and I am excited for this chance to make music with him.”

Park, who will attend Stanford University in the fall, said that he and his friends have had the idea to hold a “music benefit concert for charity” event for quite some time. That noble idea comes to fruition Friday.

“One evening at a quartet rehearsal, we thought, ‘Why not turn this into one?’ So Friday’s recital will include a canned food drive, which we will donate to LA Cares,” Park said. “The suggested donation is two cans of food, or whatever people would like to give, but we hope this can be a great turn out for a good cause as well … just another way we hope to share a little joy with our music.”