Whether she’s helping to bring world-class music to Denver audiences or helping refugee families put fresh food on the table, Mary Park shows up for her community in deeply meaningful ways. As a longtime board member and volunteer with Friends of Chamber Music—and a hands-on advocate for refugee support organizations like Project Worthmore, Mary exemplifies the quiet power of compassionate leadership. She’s someone who doesn’t just believe in the arts and equity, she works tirelessly to bring both into everyday lives. We sat down with her to learn more about what drives her service, what she’s learned along the way, and what she’s most excited about this season.
For someone who’s never been to a Friends of Chamber Music concert, how would you describe the experience? What might surprise people about it?
I came to Friends of Chamber Music (FCM) interested in classical music but without any formal training, and what I’ve grown to love about chamber music is its intimacy. Listening to small ensembles performing live, you can literally see and hear how musicians interact with the music and each other. Watching small ensembles like a string quartet perform, I learned so much as I followed the “voices” from each instrument, listening for the melody in the first violin or solo lines by the cello and then hearing all four instruments come together in conversation. Gates Concert Hall, on the DU campus where FCM concerts are presented, is a perfect venue, where even 15 rows back you can hear the musicians breathing and feel their intensity. After attending many concerts, I appreciate how a small ensemble can create such a powerful, emotional experience.
Why do you believe chamber music still matters in 2025, especially at the community level? How do you see it connecting people in today’s world?
While some people might think that chamber music is mostly centuries-old, traditional European art form, it’s of course a living art form with many contemporary composers who are writing from their own personal experiences or are responding to current social issues just as artists always have. A great example is Pitch In by James Lee III, which will receive its world premiere on September 7 when FCM opens its 2025-26 season.
FCM presents artists who perform the vast range of chamber music repertoire—from Mozart to Beethoven to diverse contemporary works—performed by internationally recognized soloists and ensembles.
You have also been involved in FCM’s outreach programming—can you tell us about some of the work you do to bring music into the wider community?
An important part of FCM’s mission is to bring chamber music outside the concert hall—we have presented programs in public schools, homeless shelters, the Stanley Marketplace, and the Clyfford Still Museum. FCM’s goal in our outreach is to share the beauty of chamber music with those who might not be familiar with it and hopefully nurture new audiences for the future. Also important to our outreach is presenting a range of our own excellent, locally-based artists, whether from the Colorado Symphony, regional orchestras, or students studying performance at DU or CU.
Since 2022, you’ve also devoted significant time to helping refugee families here in Denver. How did that effort begin, and what has that experience taught you?
In 2022, my husband and I wanted to find a hands-on way to get involved in the community. Since both of us come from immigrant families, we decided on refugee services, volunteering for the “First Friends” program at the African Community Center, an agency that helps settle newly arrived refugees from all over the world. We were matched with a family from Afghanistan; we knew little about their country or customs and had never heard of their language, Pashto. The father had worked with the U.S. military and was able to be evacuated and resettled in Aurora with his wife and six children. With almost no English, they needed help enrolling their children in school, making doctors’ appointments, locating food pantries, and applying for government benefits. We learned that with shared goodwill, many gestures, and Google Translate, we could effectively communicate and help a family get started in navigating a bewildering new country.
You got to know Project Worthmore and DeLaney Farm. For those unfamiliar, can you share a bit about what they do—and how they support refugee families?
Working with Afghan families, I learned about the amazing network of nonprofits based in the Denver area that help refugees and others in need. One standout organization is Project Worthmore, a unique nonprofit that offers an incredible range of services including English language classes, a dental clinic, a food share program, and DeLaney Community Farm, where refugees help grow produce to use and sell at the City Park farmer’s market. Organizations like Project Worthmore are vital for helping newcomers gain skills to integrate in a new country and importantly develop friendships with each other and American volunteers.
Food insecurity is a major issue among the refugee families you assist. What do you want readers to know about the challenges these families face—and how the community can help?
As the price of food and basic necessities rise, and the budgets of government assistance programs continue to be squeezed (with more cuts coming), the lives of refugees have become even more challenging. However, having stood in food pantry lines with the families we helped, we saw it’s not just refugees, but Americans of all ages and backgrounds who need food assistance. The Denver metro area has many nonprofits offering assistance, where donations of food, money and time are always critical.
From classical music to food access, your work spans very different areas. It sounds like these two worlds may come together in FCM’s first concert of the season?
They do! FCM’s September 7 concert will be performed by the Grammy Award–winning Pacifica Quartet with a guest choir from the Colorado Children’s Chorale. In addition to more familiar works by Barber and Beethoven, the program will include the world premiere of Pitch In, written by composer James Lee III. The work is a musical call to action on childhood poverty and hunger, based on a poem by Sylvia Dianne Beverly (“Lady Di”).
September is Hunger Awareness Month, and as a part of this premiere, FCM will be spotlighting the work of Food for Thought—an all-volunteer organization working to eliminate childhood hunger in our public schools. For many low-income students, the lunch they receive on Friday may be the last solid meal they eat before they return to school on Monday. Each Friday, hundreds of volunteers help pack and deliver “PowerSacks” to students to take home to their family for the weekend, with 75 Denver area schools served each week.
What advice would you offer to any neighbors looking to get involved in community service?
My volunteer experiences have definitely connected me to a wonderful network of new people in both the arts and social services sector. Joining the efforts of countless people committed to making Denver a better place to live has been positive in many ways. My advice is to follow your interests and curiosity. There are so many organizations looking for volunteers and it’s a rewarding way to become more connected to where we live.
Mary Park’s story is a powerful reminder that service comes in many forms, whether it’s helping a child hear a live string quartet for the first time or ensuring a refugee family has enough food for the week. Through her tireless efforts in the arts and beyond, she’s helping to build a more compassionate, connected Denver, one relationship, concert, and meal at a time. To learn more about Friends of Chamber Music’s concert season and volunteer opportunities, visit friendsofchambermusic.com. See the ad in this publication for season highlights and a special promo code for Urban Life Wash Park readers. And for more information about Food for Thought, visit Foodforthoughtdenver.org.