Originally from Toronto, Canada, Dr. Joon Park (he/him) is a performer and educator currently based out of Kansas City, Missouri. For the 2024-2025 season, Joon will be the acting Third/Utility trumpet of the Kansas City Symphony. During the season, he will travel with the orchestra on their inaugural European tour to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Philharmonie in Berlin, and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.

He also performs regularly as a substitute musician with the Kansas City Ballet, the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, and has performed with the New World Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Orchestra Iowa, and the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas. Additionally, Joon is a member of the world-renowned Brass Band of Battle Creek and won the 2022 North American Brass Band Association Championship with the Fountain City Brass Band. Outside of playing in orchestras and brass bands, Joon has appeared in concert with popular musical artists such as Rufus Wainright, Seal and plays in musical theater orchestras.

Joon is the adjunct professor of high brass at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, teaching private lessons as well as the Brass Methods course. In addition to his role at Benedictine College, Joon presents clinics, masterclasses, and maintains a large private studio in the Blue Valley (Overland Park, KS) school district.

On a national level, Joon has led a variety of clinics, masterclasses, and workshops. Recently, Joon was on faculty at the Alpine Brass and Percussion Academy, the Brass Band of Battle Creek’s Summer Youth Camps, the California Central Coast Orchestra & Jazz Academy, and presented masterclasses for the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. Previously, Joon was a Teaching Artist with Youth Orchestra Salinas, an El Sistema USA member organization that provides tuition-free musical training for at-risk and underserved youth in Salinas, CA.

While at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, Joon was a member of Volker Brass. Volker Brass performed recitals, outreach concerts, and gave masterclasses in Kansas City and across the Midwest. In 2020, they were semi-finalists at the Coltman Competition and national finalists at the 2019 Music Teachers National Association Chamber Winds Competition. They were also semi-finalists and recipients of the American Brass Quintet Prize at the 2019 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

His book, Beyond the Scale for Trumpet, published by Encore Music Publishers, received a positive review in the International Trumpet Guild Journal. Co-authored with Jacob Taitel, this educational resource takes trumpet players to new levels where scales become tools. These tools will allow players to polish their skills and reach new levels of technical mastery.

Joon holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory, a Master of Music from Michigan State University, and a Bachelor of Music from McGill University. He has studied with Dr. Keith Benjamin, Justin Emerich, Paul Merkelo, Christopher Smith, and Andrew Dunn. He has also performed in masterclasses led by Mark Inouye (San Francisco Symphony), Billy Hunter (The MET Orchestra), Tom Hooten (Los Angeles Philharmonic), Thomas Rolfs (Boston Symphony), and many others.

Joon is proud to be an S.E. Shires performing artist, and plays on a Shires 4S8 C trumpet.

Learn more by contacting Joon.