joconnell@journalnet.com

POCATELLO - Chung Park started playing violin at age 5, but baseball was his childhood passion. Fortunately, music won out.

Park, who had moved to the north side of Chicago from South Korea at 3 years old, enrolled in a high school with 5,000 students. When he tried out for his high school baseball team, he soon realized that sports would not provide his meal ticket. All of the guys who made the team were at least a foot taller.

Park, new director of the Idaho State Civic Symphony, still loves baseball and cheering for the Chicago Cubs, but he's become a major league talent in the music world.

His musical resume includes a bachelor's degree from Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Md., a master's in viola from Western Michigan University, a master's of conducting at the University of Illinois and a doctorate at the University of Miami.

He's also taught classes and conducted the orchestra for Indiana University's South Bend campus, conducted the chamber orchestra at the University of Chicago and taught classes at the University of North Dakota.

Park was drawn to Pocatello after sensing the community had a strong commitment to the arts.

"I saw a big, beautiful building (the Stephens Performing Arts Center), and I saw that they didn't spare any expense to make that building as good as they could," Park said. "Music is a way of life for this community. Whether they have Ph.D.s or not, people want to hear good music. People want to have their souls fed."

Park said he also noticed a "can-do spirit" in the community.

"I've had that first impression confirmed over and over again since I got here," Park said.

Spreading the love of music among local youths has been among Park's top priorities as director of the Civic Symphony. He has done outreach in area schools and has reinvigorated the community's youth orchestra program.

Park hosted a string summer camp for youths. He planned to limit enrollment at 15 children, but when twice that many participants signed up, he found a cello teacher to help expand the camp.

"What that tells me is there's a lot of hunger for learning about music here," Park said. "There is nothing quite like the feeling of watching a kid enjoy playing music and having fun. It gives me chills every time. To see happy children, I don't think there is anything better in life than that."

Park has also sought to transform the atmosphere at his concerts to make them more of a family night out. While it used to be that bottled water was the only refreshment available at the shows, now spectators can buy beer, wine, champagne, pretzels, cookies and other snacks. Before concerts, chamber music is played in the hall.

"You can take your wife out for a night. You can buy your kid a cookie. It's just a lot more fun," Park said. "What I want to do is make symphony night a night where you can meet with your friends."

The first concert was played before a packed house. The next concert will be Nov. 13 and will feature a Spanish theme. It will include a guitar concerto, and guests will be Tom Sheeley, a guitar soloist who teaches at Northern Arizona University, and Kori Bond, an ISU faculty member who will perform a piano concerto.

Let the questions begin:

ISJ: What's your favorite food?

Park: Anything homemade.

ISJ: If you could have dinner with one famous person, who would it be?

Park: His Holiness, The Dalai Lama.

ISJ: Who inspires you the most?

Park: Anyone who gives 110 percent to what they do, no matter what it is.

ISJ: Who's your ideal next-door neighbor?

Park: My landladies, Margo and Linda. They rock.

ISJ: If you could return to any age, what age would you be and why?

Park: I like being the age I am. Old enough to have learned from my mistakes, young enough to make some more.

ISJ: If you could choose a new career, what would it be? Park: Chef!

ISJ: Any regrets?

Park: Lots of them, but I needed all of them to improve. I wouldn't change one dumb thing I did.

ISJ: What's your favorite appliance?

Park: My iPod Touch. Can't wait to move up to an iPhone.

ISJ: Who are your top three dream dinner partners?

Park: My brothers and my best buddy.

ISJ: What was the last good book you read?

Park: "The Tipping Point," by Malcolm Gladwell.

ISJ: What was your favorite vacation?

Park: Going to New York when I was seven with my family. WTC and the Empire State Building on the same day! Ran out of time so I didn't get to see Ms. Liberty. That's next.

ISJ: What is your guilty pleasure?

Park: Italian bottled water.

ISJ: Who is (was) your mentor?

Park: My teacher at the University of Miami, Thomas Sleeper.

ISJ: What was the first album you ever owned?

Park: U2, "The Unforgettable Fire."

ISJ: What's your idea of the perfect vacation?

Park: Anything involving food. I'm a food tourist. I had a week in Key West last May and spent the whole time sampling conch fritters and snow crabs, grouper sandwiches-you name it. I like to spend every vacation this way. I just have to remember to bring my running shoes so I don't gain 50 pounds.

ISJ: Favorite musical era?

Park: Right now. We've got everything right at our fingertips!

ISJ: Favorite entertainer?

Park: Jon Stewart.

ISJ: When was the last time you told a lie?

Park: The last time my mom asked me when I was going to get married.

ISJ: What can't you do that you wish you could?

Park: Play second base for the Chicago Cubs.

ISJ: What would you like to be reincarnated as?

Park: Walter Payton.