Hong Seokwon

Studied composition and conducting at Seoul National University and completed the Diplom and Konzertexamen at the Berlin University of the Arts. He served as Kapellmeister of the Tyrol State Theater in Innsbruck — the first Korean to hold a permanent conducting post at an Austrian opera house — and was recognized as an opera conductor on European stages including Bern and Mainz. After serving as music director of the Gwangju Symphony Orchestra, he was appointed music director of the Busan Philharmonic, and is currently professor of conducting at Seoul National University College of Music.