Conductor Chris Younghoon Kim has a broad repertoire in instrumental and choral works and is particularly active in promoting new music. He holds a Bachelor of Music in music education and oboe performance from Northwestern University, a Master of Music in orchestral conducting from the University of Michigan, and has also studied composition. He has continued his conducting studies in master classes with Neeme Jarvi, Jorma Panula, Martyn Brabbins, Gunther Schuller, Gerhard Markson, and Kenneth Kiesler. Kim serves as Artistic Director of Brave New Works, a vibrant ensemble of ten musicians dedicated to performing new compositions, and is the conductor and a founding member of the Kalistos Chamber Orchestra, which is based in Boston. He has also been active as a conductor and concert-organizer with the Boston-based Firebird Ensemble. Before coming to Cornell in 2004 he taught at Tufts University, served as resident conductor of the Mozart Society Orchestra at Harvard University, and was assistant conductor for the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. In summer 2005, he will begin teaching a conducting course at the Instituto Musicale di Lombardia in Milan, Italy, along with Christian Capocacia and Silas Huff.

At Cornell Chris Kim conducts the Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra, and teaches conducting. He works closely with the students in the D.M.A. program in composition, assisting them in presenting their new works in concert. He is also a member of Ensemble X, a professional chamber ensemble based in Ithaca that includes faculty members from both Cornell and Ithaca College.

For more information on the orchestras at Cornell, visit http://www.arts.cornell.edu/orchestra.

Photo: Robert Barker, Cornell University Photography