Background

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Woody Pak was born on July 8, 1970, in Oakland, California, to Ty Pak, an author, and Younghee Kim. His parents emigrated from South Korea to the United States in the 1960s. His father, Ty Pak, received a Ph.D. in English from Bowling Green University. He has an older sister Brigette Noh and younger brother Andrew Pak.

Woody was raised in Hawaii until the age of 14, after which he attended Foothill High School in California. He then pursued higher education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he graduated in 1992. Woody furthered his education by obtaining a Master's degree from The Juilliard School in 1997.

Woody Pak composes for film, documentaries, concert hall, and musical theater. Musical theater works are Making Tracks and both stage adaptations (2003 and 2024) of Ang Lee's Oscar-nominated film The Wedding Banquet.[1][2][3][4]. Haegum virtuoso Kang Eunil commissioned Pak for her concert 4 Generations.[5][6][7] Pak is a recipient of the 2021 BMI Film & TV Awards for Film Features for his film score for Waikiki, directed by Chris Kahunahana.[8]

  1. ^ Gates, Anita (February 5, 1999). "THEATER REVIEW; Immigrants Traverse Miles and Generations in Song". The New York Times.
  2. ^ Cox, Gordon (May 21, 2024). "THE WORLD'S FARTHEST OUT-OF-TOWN TRYOUT".
  3. ^ Gans, Andrew (July 14, 2003). "The Wedding Banquet Musical to World Premiere in August". Playbill.
  4. ^ Gans, Andrew (April 15, 2024). "Telly Leung Will Star in The Wedding Banquet Musical in Taipei". Playbill.
  5. ^ "Concerts for all daughters of the world-프린트화면". news.koreaherald.com. Retrieved 2024-08-17.
  6. ^ "To all girls, take pride in yourselves". koreatimes. 2020-02-14. Retrieved 2024-08-17.
  7. ^ "Conveying the power of mothers with haegeum: Composers use emotion-evoking instrument to tell stories from around the world". koreajoongangdaily.joins.com. 2020-02-18. Retrieved 2024-08-17.
  8. ^ "2021 BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Awards". BMI.com. Retrieved 2024-08-17.