South Korean conductor Shiyeon Sung is a real trailblazer in her profession. She is the first female conductor out of South Korea to leap the podium of internationally renowned orchestras.
When James Levine appointed her his assistant conductor at the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2007, her reputation as one of the most exciting emerging talents on the international music circuit was already secure. Shortly before that, Shiyeon Sung won the Georg Solti International Conductors' Competition and the Gustav Mahler Conductors’ Competition in Bamberg. During her three-year tenure in Boston, she began a close collaboration with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted their season-opening concert in 2007. In 2009, the orchestra established an associate conductor's position, especially for her, which she held until 2013.
The list of orchestras that Shiyeon Sung has worked with since then is remarkable. It includes renowned orchestras such as the Radio Bavaria Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam, the Philharmonia Orchestra London, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Washington National Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra or the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which she conducted in a spectacular debut concert with Martha Argerich at the Tongyeong International Music Festival. In addition, she appeared as a guest conductor at the Teatro Colón and the Stockholm Opera.
Born in Pusan, South Korea, Shiyeon Sung has won various prizes as a pianist in youth competitions. From 2001 to 2006, she studied orchestral conducting with Rolf Reuter at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin and continued her education with advanced conducting studies with Jorma Panula at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm.