Korean conductor Eun Sun Kim was named the Caroline H. Hume Music Director of San Francisco Opera, where she began her tenure in 2021. She is a regular guest conductor at the world’s most important opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper, Semperoper Dresden, Staatsoper Berlin, and Teatro alla Scala in Milan.
In the 23/24 season, Ms. Kim continues a series of high-profile debuts, conducting the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. She also makes her first appearances at Opéra national de Paris, leading Les contes d’Hoffmann and the Maria Callas Centenary. At San Francisco Opera, she furthers her multi-season explorations of Verdi and Wagner repertoire with performances of Il trovatore and Lohengrin, and leads The Magic Flute, Opera Ball, and Opera in the Park.
Ms. Kim’s major orchestral engagements include Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Gothenburg Symphony, and Seoul Philharmonic. She has also conducted European orchestras in Bonn, Madrid, Malmö, Marseille, Milan, Lille, Nancy, Oslo, Palermo, Stuttgart, Turin, and Santiago de Compostela. In North America, her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic was quickly followed by engagements with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra,
Ms. Kim studied composition and conducting in her hometown of Seoul, South Korea, before continuing her studies in Stuttgart, where she graduated with distinction. Directly after graduation, she was awarded the First Prize in the International Jesús López Cobos Opera Conducting Competition at the Teatro Real, Madrid.
