Photo by Kevin Bay

Elena Moon Park is a musician, educator, and producer living in Brooklyn, NY. She is a freelance violinist and multi-instrumentalist in NYC, specializing in contemporary classical and family music, and has performed on stages ranging from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to the Southbank Centre and the Melbourne International Arts Festival. She is also co-Artistic Director of the Brooklyn-based arts organization Found Sound Nation, which uses collaborative music creation to connect people across cultural divides.

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Originally from Oak Ridge, TN, Elena studied anthropology and ethnomusicology at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL and completed her M.A. in Urban Policy from The New School in New York. Before moving to NYC, Elena briefly served as a development consultant for grassroots social justice organizations on the south and west sides of Chicago. While pursuing an urban policy degree from The New School, she began performing and touring the world with the all-ages folk rock band Dan Zanes and Friends, singing and playing violin, trumpet, mandolin, jarana, spoons, and musical saw.

 

In 2010, she began working with Bang on a Can's Found Sound Nation, designing collaborative music creation workshops. In 2012, Found Sound Nation entered into a partnership with the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to launch OneBeat, an annual global music diplomacy program that brings together musicians from around the globe to the U.S. each fall for one month of creative collaboration, performance and engagement with communities. 

 

In 2012, Elena also released her debut all-ages album called Rabbit Days and Dumplings, featuring reimagined folk and children's music from East Asia. Elena continues to perform with all-ages musicians Sonia De Los Santos, and leads her own all-ages folk rock band, Elena Moon Park and Friends. She released a second all-ages album, Unhurried Journey, in summer 2020.