Biography
Jong Hoon Bae · Conductor
Jong Hoon Bae is Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Seocho Philharmonia in Seoul, and President of the LAVS Foundation in Los Angeles.
In July 2026, at the Banpo Simsan Art Hall, Bae brought to a close one of the more remarkable undertakings in recent orchestral programming: a complete traversal of the 107 symphonies of Joseph Haydn, performed over seven seasons by one orchestra in one hall. Begun in 2020, the cycle is the first of its kind in Korea.
His recording work has been no less unusual in its ambitions. In 2020, to mark the seventieth anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, Bae commissioned the American composer Ian Krouse — a friend since their UCLA years and a longstanding collaborator — to complete a symphony on the subject. The resulting account of Krouse’s Symphony No. 5, A Journey Towards Peace, which sets Whitman alongside the Korean melody Arirang and fragments of Copland and Amazing Grace, was released by Naxos in November 2021, making the Seocho Philharmonia the first Korean orchestra to appear on the label. Reviewing the disc, Gramophone described the performances as splendid.
Commemorative work
Bae’s work has long carried a commemorative dimension. Since 2009 he has conducted memorial and thanksgiving concerts for Korean War veterans in twenty-two United Nations participating nations, a programme sustained across more than fifteen years and recognised by the Republic of Korea for his contribution to relations between Korea and the nations that fought there.
Earlier, he founded the Republic of Korea Armed Forces Symphony Orchestra, the first ensemble to draw musicians from all three branches of the Korean military, and served as its first Music Director and Principal Conductor.
Training
An American citizen, Bae trained across three traditions. He studied composition and conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, then orchestral and ballet conducting at the Mariinsky Opera and the St Petersburg Conservatory, before moving to Los Angeles to continue his studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he later taught conducting in the graduate programme.
In concert
He has appeared as guest conductor with the KBS Symphony Orchestra, Korea National Opera, Gyeonggi Philharmonic, Busan Philharmonic and Daegu Philharmonic, among others. He is a noted interpreter of Shostakovich, and conducts his repertoire from memory. Colleagues describe a rehearsal manner built on dialogue rather than command.
Los Angeles
Through the LAVS Foundation, Bae’s work now extends to Los Angeles, where the Foundation presents concerts across the city and supports young string players through instrument loans, scholarships and educational grants.
Selected positions
- 2016–Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, Seocho Philharmonia, Seoul
- 2026–President, LAVS Foundation, Los Angeles
- —Founding Music Director and Principal Conductor, Republic of Korea Armed Forces Symphony Orchestra
- —Conducting faculty, University of California, Los Angeles
Training
- ViennaUniversity of Music and Performing Arts — composition and conducting
- St PetersburgMariinsky Opera and St Petersburg Conservatory — orchestral and ballet conducting
- Los AngelesUniversity of California, Los Angeles