Seokwon Hong

Conductor Seokwon Hong has been active in both Europe, where he was partially trained, and in his native South Korea. Hong first got noticed when he reached the finals at Korea's Suwon International Conducting Competition in 2005, becoming the youngest participant to do so. The following year, he conducted a production of Mozart's Don Giovanni, presented on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Seoul National University. Hong served as the second music director of the Hankyung Philharmonic and, in 2021, became the music director of the Gwangju Symphony Orchestra. With that ensemble, he made his recording debut in 2022 with an album of works by Beethoven, Isang Yun, and Samuel Barber; the album featured pianist Yunchan Lim.