Anthony Amato (1920-2011)


















Anthony "Tony" Amato passed away Tuesday morning (December 13th) after a long battle with cancer. He was 91 years young. Though I am saddened by his passing, knowing that he is now with his loving wife Sally singing love duets and making delicious pasta, I can smile.













I was lucky enough to play flute for Tony from mid-1990s until 2009, when Tony decided to close his beloved opera company. But I was even more lucky to have had a chance to conduct in his last production, Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. What is truly amazing is to know that my own father, tenor In Soo Park, sang in Tony's productions back in the 1980-81 season, Rodolfo in Puccini's La Boheme and Ernesto in Donizetti's Don Pasquale! I learned a great deal from Tony, especially the way one should accompany singers in a traditional manner, without the silly ego of a modern conductor or an accompanist. I was most impressed by his complete understanding of opera as a genre. He was a genius!!

Read about his passing in some of the obituaries below.

WQXR:
http://www.wqxr.org/#/blogs/operavore/2011/dec/13/anthony-amato-impresario-small-grand-opera-dies-91/

The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/arts/music/anthony-amato-founder-of-amato-opera-is-dead-at-91.html?_r=3&ref=todayspaper

Amato Opera Home:
http://www.amato.org/Home.html

Theater News:
http://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city/news/12-2011/anthony-amato-has-died_46688.html

Farewell, Maestro Amato!

Korea Music Foundation presents
2011 Annual Holiday Concert

Korean Cultural Service, NY
460 Park Ave. (at 57th Street) - 6th floor

Thursday December 22, 2011 7:00pm


Yunah Lee (soprano)
Mi Soon Ghim (mezzo soprano)
Chin Kim (violin)
Sang Joon Park (flute)
Juny Jung (piano)
David Oei (piano)
-I will be performing Gluck's Dance of the Blessed Spirits (most beautiful piece in the whole world) from his opera Orfeo ed Euridice, and Chopin's Variations on a theme by Rossini, "Non piu mesta", from the opera La Cenerentola. There will be Christmas Carols Singalong at the end of the concert. It's a free concert but all the seats have already been reserved, so please come at your own risk. I sincerely apologize.

Bach's Magnificat BWV 243
Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity

Sunday December 11, 2011 5:00pm
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
65th Street & Central Park West

Visitation by Maurice Denis





















-I will be playing first flute in Johann Sebastian Bach's beautiful Magnificat. The choir will also perform Hieroymus Praetorius' Magnificat Sesti Toni.

There will be a Pre-Vespers Talk given by Professor Michael Marissen at 3:45 pm, so please feel free to attend.

St. Mark's Early Music Concert Series
The Soul's Delight
From the Atlantic to the Baltic Sea:
Music of France and Germany

Sunday October 23, 2011 7:30pm
All Soul's Chapel, St. Mark's Episcopal Church
754 Montauk Highway, Islip

Sang Joon Park (Traverso)
Leya Rennart-May (Viola da gamba)
Hsuan-Wen Chen (Harpsichord)


Music by Blavet, Boismortier, Couperin, Quantz, and Telemann. Come hear the beautiful music written for our instruments.

Baroque Sundays at Three presents
Gabriel Shuford
Harpsichord Extraordinaire!

Sunday October 23, 2011 3:00pm
SUNY Stony Brook University
Staller Center Recital Hall

Stony Brook's Baroque Sundays at Three series presents Gabriel Shuford, harpsichord extraordinaire, and winner of the 2011 Samuel Baron Award. Along with a monumental harpsichord solo suite by François Couperin and two sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, Gabe will be joined by the 2005 Samuel Baron Award winner, Baroque flutist Sang Joon Park, and perform beautiful flute sonatas by Michel Blavet, Jean-Marie Leclair, Hendrik Focking, and Luís Misón. Please join us in an afternoon of magnificent European music of the 18th century.

España: Spring 2011 (part five)

Gastronomy at my favorite restaurant: El Rábano
¡¡ Hooray for No Smoking Law effective January 3, 2011 !!

España: Spring 2011 (part four)

A little house concert with Spanish pianist
Sara Olleros

Distinguished audience members from Austria, Bolivia, Cuba, and Spain














































































FOOD!!!

España: Spring 2011 (part three)

Beautiful Málaga!!!

1) Beautiful morning in Málaga (from my hotel room balcony)
2) On the main street
3) Visiting Rev. Don Francisco Aranda Otero of Málaga Cathedral with Prof. José Alcides
4) Stairway to the Cathedral tower (research request approval in hand)
5) Palm trees (I loved being in the south, with more relaxed atmosphere).

España: Spring 2011 (part two)

Madrid and León

1) Museo Sorolla in Madrid
2) Beautiful León Cathedral
3) Researching in the León Cathedral archive
4) with Rev. Don Manuel Pérez Recio (León Cathedral Archive)
5) Catedral de León

España: Spring 2011 (part one)

It was another wonderful trip. Here are some pictures:

1) Building where Pablo Minguet y Yrol (engraver, publisher) worked and lived, probably on the top floor. On the right you can see the arched passageway to Plaza Mayor
2) House where Boccherini lived and composed his Zarzuela"Clementina".
3) Korean restaurant in Madrid with friends
4) Royal Palace again
5) Madrid at night