Marion, Ind. (Oct. 15, 2026) — Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) announced Thursday that Phoenix Park-Kim, D.M.A., professor of piano, has been named the 2026 Teacher of the Year by the Indiana Music Teachers Association (IMTA).
IMTA, the state affiliate of the Music Teachers National Association, has supported the instruction, study, and performance of music in Indiana for more than a century. Park-Kim follows 2025 honoree Ray Kilburn. In announcing the award, IMTA called her a “dynamic teacher and artist” who is in high demand for master classes, adjudications, and presentations, and whose students have earned top honors in regional and national competitions.
“Phoenix represents the very best of our faculty,” said Brian Maxwell, Ph.D., M.Min., M.A., dean of IWU's School of Arts and Humanities. “She performs on stages around the world, and then she comes home to Marion and pours that same excellence into her students, one lesson at a time. We are grateful that her colleagues across the state have recognized what our students have known for more than two decades.”
Park-Kim joined the IWU faculty in 2005 and teaches in the university's Division of Music + Theatre. She also serves as artistic director of the Carmel Klavier International Piano Competition, which brings young pianists from around the world to central Indiana each year.
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Park-Kim has performed in more than a dozen countries across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and at festivals including the Aspen Summer Music Festival, Piano Texas, and the Summer Music School in Siena, Italy. She has appeared at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall and as a soloist with orchestras in concertos by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and, most recently, Florence Price.
Park-Kim is also known for her work to bring wider attention to music by African American composers. That effort earned her a Lilly research grant and special congressional recognition, and it led to two recordings on the MSR Classics label, “Deep River” and “Summerland.” She performs regularly with the chamber ensembles Soprani Compagni and Duo Dolce.
She holds bachelor's degrees in English and piano performance from Yonsei University in Seoul, a Master of Music from Miami University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music.
“I am honored and humbled to be recognized by colleagues I admire so deeply,” Park-Kim said. “Teaching is where my calling becomes most real. Every student who walks into my studio carries a God-given gift, and helping them discover it and offer it back to the world is the great joy of my work.”
