Kyunghun Kim was appointed Artistic Director of the Ridgewood Symphony in 2021. He frequently
appears as a guest conductor with major South Korean orchestras such as the Bucheon
Philharmonic Orchestra, the SungNam Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Korean Chamber
Orchestra. Mr. Kim recently made his debut with WE Philharmonic Orchestra at the renowned
Lotte Concert Hall in South Korea conducting two sold-out concerts.
Mr. Kim also serves on the music faculty at Lehman College in New York teaching string
instruments, in addition to conducting the Lehman College Chamber Orchestra. He holds the
additional position of orchestra director of the Music and Medicine Initiative at Cornell Medical
Center. Mr. Kim has held positions as Principal Associate Conductor of Ensemble 212, Resident
Conductor of the Chelsea Symphony Orchestra, and Assistant Conductor for both the Greenwich
Village Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble. Additionally, he has conducted
the Vidin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.
Before graduating from the Juilliard School in 2011 with a Master’s in Orchestral Conducting
with James DePriest, Mr. Kim was an assistant conductor of AXIOM, a contemporary music
ensemble at the Juilliard School, and was a conductor of the school’s Music Advancement
Program (MAP) Orchestra during 2009-2011. Prior to this, he earned an Artist Diploma in
Conducting in 2007 from the Curtis Institute of Music, under the auspices of Otto-Werner
Mueller, where he was an assistant conductor for a variety of opera projects. Mr. Kim has
participated in numerous prestigious music festivals and master classes including a Kurt Masur
conducting seminar, the Wiener Meisterkurse, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and
the Pierre Monteux School, studying with notable conductors including Michael Tilson Thomas,
Alan Gilbert and Marin Alsop. He also was chosen as a semifinalist in the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra’s Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition & Apprenticeship in June
2013.
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Mr. Kim began piano and violin studies at age five. He continued
his studies at the Boston Conservatory, where he holds a Bachelor of Music in viola
performance. Mr. Kim currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and two children.