Season Conductors

Kyunghun Kim is the Artistic Director of the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra. 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 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, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.

Before graduating from The Juilliard School in 2011 with a Masters 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 same 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 masterclasses including a Kurt Masur conducting seminar, the Wiener Meisterkurse, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, and the Pierre Monteux School studying with the most notable conductors such as Kurt Masur, Michael Tilson Thomas, Alan Gilbert, and Marin Alsop. He also was chosen as a semi-finalist and participated in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s the Sir. George Solti International Conducting Competition & Apprenticeship in June 2013.
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Mr. Kim began studying piano and violin 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.