Eun Sun Kim
About this Artist
Following “a company debut of astonishing vibrancy and assurance” (San Francisco Chronicle) in Rusalka, Korean conductor Eun Sun Kim was named the Caroline H. Hume Music Director of San Francisco Opera, where she began her tenure in 2021. She is a regular guest conductor at the world’s most important opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper, Semperoper Dresden, Staatsoper Berlin, Opéra national de Paris, and Teatro alla Scala in Milan. On the heels of her Met debut, noted for an “assured technical command, subtlety and imagination,” The New York Times recognized her as classical music’s breakout star.
In the 2024/25 season, Kim makes her much-anticipated Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, debut with performances of Tosca, before returning to Staatsoper Berlin for Simon Boccanegra. At San Francisco Opera, she leads performances of Un ballo in maschera, Tristan und Isolde, Idomeneo, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Further appearances include return engagements with Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as debuts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano.
Kim’s major orchestral engagements include the Berliner Philharmoniker, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Gothenburg Symphony, and Seoul Philharmonic, among others. In North America, her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic was quickly followed by engagements with The Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
Kim’s tenure at San Francisco Opera heralds a new vision for its second century, with Kim on the podium for Il trovatore, Lohengrin, Dialogues of the Carmelites, La traviata, Fidelio, The Magic Flute, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and the world premiere of John Adams’ Antony and Cleopatra. She has enjoyed operatic successes at Lyric Opera of Chicago, LA Opera, Washington National Opera, and Houston Grand Opera, where she is the company’s first Principal Guest Conductor in 25 years..
Kim studied composition and conducting in her hometown of Seoul before continuing her studies in Stuttgart, where she graduated with distinction. Directly after graduation, she was awarded First Prize in the International Jesús López-Cobos Opera Conducting Competition at the Teatro Real Madrid.