Lena Park

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Lena Park
Birth name Hangul: 박정현

Hanja: 朴正炫

Revised Romanization: Bak Jeong-hyeon
Also known as Lena Park
Born March 23, 1976 (1976-03-23) (age 32)
Origin Flag of the United States Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genre(s) R&B, Korean pop, Japanese pop, Gospel
Occupation(s) Singer, Song-writer, Musician, Arranger, Record producer
Instrument(s) Vocals, Piano, Saxophone
Years active 1993-present
Website Official Website
Lena's name transcribed in Tengwar. This is used as the official logo since her 2nd album "A Second Helping".
Lena's name transcribed in Tengwar. This is used as the official logo since her 2nd album "A Second Helping".

Lena Park, also known as Park Jung-hyun, (born March 23, 1976 in Los Angeles, California), is a Korean American R&B singer. Early in her life, Park showed talent for singing, mainly in the choir of her father's church in Downey with her siblings Brian and Uriah. She also learned to play saxophone and piano. As of June 2007, Park has released 8 Korean albums, 2 Korean singles, 3 Japanese albums and 7 Japanese singles.

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[edit] Professional career

Park won several singing contests in the United States before recording a Gospel album in 1993. She continued her studies while doing many performances. She attended UCLA for a year before she began a career as a singer beginning with her first Korean album, Piece, in 1998. Park's first album sold more than 500,000 copies despite her not being comfortable enough to do promotions on talk shows. She did not learn to speak Korean very well until she released her first album.[citation needed]

In 1999, A Second Helping was released. It also was well received by both fans and the critics. Park's third album, "Naturally", was mixed in both South Korea and the USA.

After a year break from singing because of her studies in the USA, she came back in 2002 with her album called Op.4. More comfortable with the media, she became much more accessible for talk shows and performances.

In 2002, her song "Kkum-e" (In a Dream) was a big success and enabled her to enter foreign markets, such as Singapore. The Korean government selected Park to represent Korea in the opening and closing ceremony of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. At the end of 2002, a "best of" album was released and she played a series of concerts. Live recordings from these concerts were made into her first special live album in CDs and DVD.

Park, along with Brown Eyes, CHEMISTRY and Sowelu formed the special unit conveniently called "Voices of Korea/Japan" and made the title song for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Official Album - Songs of Korea/Japan. She later debuted in the Japanese music industry where she received moderate success.

She is especially proud of her fifth Korean album, On & On, because she felt that she is finally comfortable and confident in singing and composing in Korean. It took her about one year to make the album and during the time she became very involved with the production and creative work behind the album; she helped with a lot of the song arrangements, played the piano for some of the tracks and composed four of the songs in the album.

Since 2006 she's been studying at Columbia University, at New York.

In 2007, she performed the opening theme, Inori~You Raise Me Up～ (祈り～You Raise Me Up～?), of the Japanese anime TV series, Romeo x Juliet, which is a Japanese cover of Rolf Lovland and Brendan Graham's song, You Raise Me Up. The single also includes a cover of the English version.

Her 6th Korean album, Come To Where I Am, was released on December 11, 2007, in which all songs were written and produced by Lena herself.

[edit] Discography

Korean Albums

  • [1998.08.09] 1st Album: Piece
  • [1999.04.19] 2nd Album: A Second Helping
  • [2000.11.09] 3rd Album: Naturally
  • [2001.05.06] Special Album: Forever
  • [2002.06.15] 4th Album: Op.4
  • [2002.10.24] Best Album: The Romantic Story of Park Jung Hyun
  • [2003.07.05] Live Album: Live Op.4 Concert Project 4th Movement
  • [2003.07.05] Live Album: Live Op.4 Concert Project 4th Movement (DVD)
  • [2005.02.05] 5th Album: On & On
  • [2007.12.11] 6th Album: Come To Where I Am

Korean Singles

  • [2006.03.29] "Against All Odds"
  • [2006.04.15] 위태로운 이야기 (Witaeroun Iyagi, Precarious Stories)

Japanese Singles

  • [2004.11.25] "FALL IN LOVE"
  • [2005.05.18] "Sanctuary"
  • [2006.02.22] "Subete no Mono ni Anata wo Omou" (すべてのものにあなたを思う ?)
  • [2006.03.24] "Music"
  • [2006.05.21] "Gold"
  • [2006.10.04] "Ai no Jealousy"
  • [2007.06.20] "Inori~You Raise Me Up～" (祈り～You Raise Me Up～?)

Japanese Albums

  • [2004.11.25] another piece
  • [2005.05.18] Beyond the line
  • [2006.06.21] COSMORAMA

Collaborations

  • [1998.xx.xx] Player - The New Beginning
  • [1999.xx.xx] Yoon Jong Shin - 7th
  • [2002.05.xx] Yoon Jong Shin - From The Beginning
  • [2002.05.29] 2002 FIFA World Cup Official Album - Songs of Korea/Japan
  • [2003.05.xx] Kim Jin Pyo - 4th
  • [2003.05.xx] Na Won Ju - 1st
  • [2003.12.10] Voice of Love Posse
  • [2004.04.xx] Kim Jin Pyo - Remasatering All about JP
  • [2005.03.24] JHETT aka YAKKO for AQUARIUS - JHETT (Track 11: Everything Inside Of Me feat. Lena Park)

[edit] Trivia

  • Lena Park studied English Literature at Columbia University.
  • She likes music from U2, Amy Grant, Tori Amos, Radiohead and Joni Mitchell.
  • In Japan, Lena Park is often referred to as the "Utada Hikaru of Korea". Park and Utada were both born in the United States, and heavily influenced by American R&B music. They have both attended Columbia University. They both achieve success since their debut, and are both very influential female singer-songwriters. Park and Utada both have A blood type which, in Japan & South Korea, is believed to contribute to one's personality like astrological signs.

[edit] References

[edit] See also