23/24 Season Highlights
• Debuts at Berliner Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal
• Debut at Opéra National de Paris with Les contes d’Hoffmann and Maria Callas Centenary Gala
• Return to Houston Grand Opera with Parsifal
• Leading San Francisco Opera productions of Il Trovatore, Lohengrin, and The Magic Flute
• Orchestral engagements in Barcelona, Duisburg, Colorado, Minnesota, and Seoul
Biographical Info
• Born 23 October 1980 in Seoul, Korea
• BM in Composition from Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea
• MM in Orchestral Conducting from Yonsei University
• Doctorate of Music in Orchestral Conducting from University of Music in Stuttgart, Germany
• Apprenticed as Assistant Conductor at Teatro Real Madrid
• Lives in San Francisco
Career Highlights
• Appointed Caroline H. Hume Music Director of San Francisco Opera
• Assisted Kiril Petrenko conducting Tristan und Isolde in Lyon
• First Prize in the International Jesús López Cobos Conducting Competition
• Culture Prize from the Ingrid zu Solms Foundation
• Special Prize from Deutschen Dirigentenpreis
• Nominated for 2022 International Opera Award in Conductor category
• Named Classical Music Breakout Star of 2021 by The New York Times
Anecdotes
• Started as composition student and pianist; professor urged her to consider conducting after seeing her coach La bohème
• Is a particular fan of repertoire that blends Western classical music with Korean traditions
• Grandfather was a famous calligrapher who created the Wongok style
• Shares her name with a professional soccer player, as well as the author of a North Korean memoir
• Considered a career as a simultaneous translator; speaks Korean, English, Spanish, German, Italian, and French
• When working on a new piece, researches the composer’s life and the society in which they live(d) in their native language, so she can steep herself in the sounds and rhythms of their world