Jong Hoon Bae
Conductor
Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Seocho Philharmonia in Seoul, and President of the LAVS Foundation in Los Angeles.
In July 2026 he completed a seven-year traversal of all 107 symphonies of Joseph Haydn — performed over seven seasons by one orchestra in one hall, the first cycle of its kind in Korea.
An American conductor trained in Vienna, St Petersburg and Los Angeles, he has conducted memorial concerts for Korean War veterans in twenty-two United Nations participating nations since 2009.
Jong Hoon Bae with the Seocho Philharmonia, Banpo Simsan Art Hall, Seoul.
The performances by the Seocho Philharmonia and UCLA Brass Quintet are splendid.
Seocho Philharmonia
Founded in 2016 as the resident orchestra of the Seocho Cultural Foundation in Seoul, the Seocho Philharmonia marked its tenth anniversary in 2026. Under Bae’s direction the orchestra completed its Haydn cycle, recorded for Naxos, and appears annually at the Seoripul Music Festival.
The Haydn cycle
Begun in 2020 and concluded in July 2026, the cycle set out all 107 Haydn symphonies across seven seasons — the first undertaking of its kind by a single Korean orchestra in a single hall, and performed from memory.
Commemorative work
Since 2009 Bae has conducted memorial and thanksgiving concerts for Korean War veterans across twenty-two United Nations participating nations — a programme sustained for more than fifteen years. To mark the seventieth anniversary of the war’s outbreak he commissioned Ian Krouse’s Symphony No. 5, A Journey Towards Peace, recorded for Naxos in 2021.
Los Angeles
As President of the LAVS Foundation, Bae is building an exchange between Los Angeles and Seoul — placing young musicians from the city’s conservatories as soloists with the Seocho Philharmonia, with reciprocal appearances for Seoul-based artists in Los Angeles.