Shiyeon Sung

Conductor

Contact

Karoline Jacob
kj@karstenwitt.com
+49 30 214 594-221

Kathrin Feldmann-Uhl
kf@karstenwitt.com
+49 30 214 594-241

General Management

FRI 07.08.

19:30
Daegu Concert House

THU 07.01.

19:30
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland

SAT 09.01.

19:30
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland

Biography

Musical power and precise detail: this conducting balancing act characterises the entire programme (...) When the BR Symphony Orchestra becomes huge again in Ravel's ‘Ma mere l'oye’, the sound remains finely balanced. And once again provides an opportunity to admire Shiyeon Sung for her well thought-out phrasing, her refined internal dynamics and transitions. Süddeutsche Zeitung, November 2023

Shiyeon Sung is a highly experienced conductor with a great international reputation. As the first female conductor from South Korea, she ascended to the podiums of renowned orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Orchestras and artistic partners value her wealth of experience, her considerate way of working and broad repertoire which also encompasses contemporary music.

Starting with the 2025/26 season, she has been appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla and will collaborate with the ROSS for an initial period of three seasons. Other highlights of the current season include her debut with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, a renewed collaboration with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and her return to the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra.

The South Korean conductor is a true architect of sound. She possesses a clear musical vision, and is known for her strong conducting technique and passionate, powerful expression. She radiates a commanding presence that reflects experience and inner strength. Shiyeon Sung can both lead and inspire, conducting ‘with an elusive elegance, a sense of lightness, brightness and friendliness’ (Abendzeitung, November 2023).

By the time she was appointed Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2007, her reputation as one of the most exciting young talents on the international music scene was already well established. Just prior to her appointment, she had won both the Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition and the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in Bamberg. Parallel to her three-year assistantship in Boston, she began her collaboration with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2009, the orchestra created a position as Associate Conductor specifically for her, which she held until 2013. As chief conductor, she led the Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra from 2014 to 2017, guiding it to international recognition. After leaving Gyeonggi in January 2018, Shiyeon Sung relocated her base to Berlin, while remaining a sought-after guest in her home country, regularly returning to the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and other Korean ensembles.

Her guest appearances with orchestras now form an impressive list, including major European ensembles such as the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, as well as the National Symphony Orchestra Washington, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She has also performed at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and the Stockholm Opera. From 2023 to 2025, she has been Principal Guest Conductor of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.

Born in Pusan, South Korea, Shiyeon Sung won various prizes as a pianist in youth competitions. From 2001 to 2006, she studied orchestral conducting at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin, and continued her education with advanced conducting studies at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm.

2025/2026 season

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References

"South Korean conductor Shi-Yeon Sung (…) elicited a remarkable responsiveness from the orchestra, paying meticulous attention to every detail so that the clarity of the sound layers blended together beautifully (…) what followed was a highly nuanced interpretation of the (Firebird), seeking out its more childlike side and recreating its fantastical, oriental-inspired spirit; to this end, Sung drew on generous doses of sensuality and sparkling, playful rhythms."

El Correo de Andalucia, Juan José Roldán, 17/4/2026

"Unforgettable performance - the Auckland Philharmonia‘s Tchaikovsky 5 concert offered much cause for celebration, including the welcome return of principal guest conductor Shiyeon Sung and the very special feeling of being part of another of the orchestra’s capacity audiences (…) On the night, Sung drew a rare vibrancy from familiar pages, laying out a compulsive journey from the Russian’s doom-laden introduction to the triumphant glow of its final apotheosis."

NZ Herald, William Dart, 18 Mai 2025

"Shiyeon Sung worked wonderfully with the orchestra to bring out the ever-changing character of the Promenade that links the pieces: At times the cellos threaten, at other times, Sung lets the wildly uncontrolled Baba Yaga’s Hut become a witches’ sabbath raging through the concert hall „Glocke“, before finally, the Great Gate of Kiev with Promenade motifs makes a grand conclusion. It was an incredible cinematic experience and received a great deal of applause"

Weserkurier, Iris Hetscher, 5 February 2025

"The Korean conductor delivered an impressive performance of this testamentary work in many respects The excellent musicians of the Orchestre National de Metz Grand-Est conveyed the epic grandeur of this music without the slightest difficulty, with Sung giving it a remarkable drive. The Maestra pays attention to detail, balance, and clarity."

classique news.com, Emmanuel Andrieu, 19. January 2025

"Sung conducted with a mixture of clarity and sensitivity that allowed the orchestra to be both powerful and supportive. She was a master at balancing the dynamics between orchestra and soloist so that both could shine equally."

Vorarlberger Nachrichten, 19. November 2024

"Under the precise and emphatic baton of South Korean conductor Shiyeon Sung, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra mobilised a richly toned fresco through all the different moods of this effective first movement, with whose concept Liszt opened up a new compositional genre. (…) The dedicated commitment of all those involved in Antonin Dvořàk's Symphony No. 6 in D major was inspiring. Shiyeon Sung's blazing maelstrom in the Presto of the Scherzo, which is seldom so truly a furiant, was overwhelming, as was the way in which the brass Allegro con spirito was finally allowed to rise."

DrehPunktKultur, Horst Reischenböck, 14 November 2024 - Concerts cycle at the Großes Festspielhaus Salzburg

"The program’s second half was devoted to Dvořák — the under-programmed Sixth Symphony of 1880, to be precise. Shiyeon Sung showed herself a wonderful colorist in possession of an admirable technique, eliciting Dvořák’s ingratiating blends of woodwinds with sensitivity and refinement."

Memeteria, Thomas May, 19. April 2024 - Concert with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra

"Shiyeon Sung captured the piece’s vivacity and allowed all featured instrumental voices to shine."

Barefoot Review, Kym Clayton, 22. March 2024

"The Korean conductor begins Maurice Ravel's classic in an extreme, almost inaudible pianissimo, skilfully using the sensitive acoustics of the Isarphilharmonie together with the BR Symphony Orchestra. She then emphasised the jazzy moments, at a tight tempo, but always with a sensitive sound. Musical power and precise detail: this conducting balancing act characterises the entire programme, which interweaves works by Ravel with those by György Ligeti. (...) When the orchestra becomes huge again in Ravel's "Ma mere l'oye", the sound remains finely balanced. And gives another opportunity to praise Shiyeon Sung for her thoughtful phrasing, her refined internal dynamics and transitions. Ravel's collection of fairy-tale images thus leads into the poetic, into a dream realm, the evening as a whole effectively contradicting all traditional concert dramaturgy, from the powerful to the delicate."

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Michael Stallknecht, 27 November 2023

"Shiyeon Sung offers such an abundance of detail that it is hard to keep up while listening. The South Korean conductor is extremely precise with the dynamics: the longer the BR Symphony Orchestra lingers in tantalising pianissimo, the more electrifying the tension builds up. We encounter a whole host of special works [Ravel and Ligeti] here, all of which are conducted by Shiyeon Sung with precision, but also with an elusive elegance, a sense of lightness, brightness and friendliness."

Abendzeitung, Michael Bastian Weiß, 24 November 2023

“...Isang Yun's orchestral works have an unmistakable tone, determined by rather shrill, high woodwinds (...) This also applies to Yun's ‘Réak’ from 1966, which opened the musica viva concert with the BR Symphony Orchestra in the Herkulessaal, conducted clearly and energetically by Shiyeon Sung.”

Abendzeitung, Robert Braunmüller, 7 July 2022

"Sung’s overall conducting of Holst’s 'The Planets' was exemplary. (...) Her interpretation imbued the astrological characteristics of each planetary voice with a fresh distinctive sound, without losing the essence of Holst’s overall vision. It was a fine achievement. Her strong technical skills and attention to detail with a clear, insistent beat allowed her sweeping style to coax as well as lead."

Limelight Magazine, Suzannah Conway, 17 April 2023

“The rest of the evening also convinces with an adventurous programme. (...) Conductor Shiyeon Sung, whose impressive debut makes her the eighth female conductor ever to conduct the Concertgebouw Orchestra, first makes the threatening clarinet solos in Bartók's Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin glow softly, then lets the orchestra blaze to incandescent volume.”

de Volkskrant, Rick van Veldhuizen, 7 November 2021

“Here, in Muak by Isang Yun and in The Miraculous Mandarin by Bartók, conductor Sung brought out the best in the Concertgebouworkest. Her debut in this wonderful programme, born of a cancellation, definitely deserves a sequel.”

Trouw, Peter van der Lint, 7 November 2021