Eun Sun Kim
Boston Symphony Orchestra - Rachmaninov 3
Kim makes impressive BSO debut in varied works of wartime.
Kim's early insistence on the dynamic diversity of the program paid off here in her excellent management of Rachmaninoff's music, which begins early in the first movement and continues throughout the symphony. Her careful reading of the dynamics kept the piece just on the edge of overwhelming and held audience interest throughout the 40-minute symphony.
Boston Classical Review (March 07, 2025)Opera Now (June 20, 2025)Season 25/26 and Highlights
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA
Parks Concert
Sep 7
Atrium Concert
Sep 20
Verdi - Rigoletto
PREMIERE Sep 5
Sep 10/13/16/19/21/24/27
Wagner - Parsifal
PREMIERE Oct 25
Oct 28, Nov 2/7/13
CONCERT
Beethoven : Symphony No. 5
de Falla: Seven Popular Songs / El Sombrero de Tres Picos
Nov 1
ORCHESTRA SINFÓNICA DE MADRID
Strauss, R. - Metamorphoses
Strauss, R. - Suite from Der Rosenkavalier (Arr. P. Jordan)
Nov 26
TEATRO REAL MADRID
Bizet - Carmen
PREMIERE Dec 10
Dec 11/13/14/16/17/19/20/23/26/27/29/30, Jan 2
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ORQUESTRA SIMFÒNICA DE BARCELONA I NACIONAL DE CATALUNYA
Beethoven - Violin Concerto
Brahms - Symphony No. 4
Jan 16/17
DRESDEN PHILHARMONIC
Mozart - Sinfonia Concertante for Oboe, Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon in E Major
Korgold Symphony in F-sharp
January 24/25
BAVARIAN STATE OPERA
Puccini - Madama Butterfly
Jan 31, Feb 3/6
ORCHESTRE DE LA SUISSE ROMANDE
Mendelssohn – Hebrides Overture
Martin, F. – Violin Concerto
Beethoven – Symphony No. 5
Feb 11/12
SWEDISH RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
by Paradis, MT – Overture to The School Candidate
Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 24
Korngold – Symphony in F-sharp
Feb 19/20
DEUTSCHES SINFONIEORCHESTER BERLIN
Swanson, H. – Short Symphony
Mozart – Sinfonia Concertante for Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, and Bassoon in E-flat Major
Brahms – Symphony No. 1
March 1
ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Lili Boulanger – Marche Gaie
Prokofiev – Violin Concerto No. 1
Rachmaninoff – Symphony No. 2
March 4
MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA
Frank, GL – Pachamama Meets an Ode
Beethoven – Ah! perfido, Scene and Aria for Soprano and Orchestra
Beethoven – Symphony No. 9
March 19, 2021
BALTIMORE SYMPHONY
by Paradis, MT – Overture to The School Candidate
Schumann – Piano Concerto
Strauss – Ein Heldenleben
March 26/28
DANISH NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
by Paradis, MT – Overture to The School Candidate
Mendelssohn – Violin Concerto in E Minor
Dvořák – Symphony No. 8
Apr 9/10
BERLIN STATE OPERA
Strauss, R. – Ariadne auf Naxos
Apr 17/19/23
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA
Strauss – Elektra
June 7/11/14/19/23,/27
San Francisco Opera Pride Concert
June 26
Biography
Korean conductor Eun Sun Kim is the Caroline H. Hume Music Director of San Francisco Opera, a position she has held since 2021. The 2025/26 season underscores Kim’s global recognition and continued success with a number of prestigious debuts, including with the Dresden Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.
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At San Francisco Opera this season, she continues her long-term exploration of the works of Verdi and Wagner with productions of Rigoletto and Parsifal. During the summer season of 2026, she will return to SFO to present Elektra.
For her international operatic engagements, Kim will once again head to the Teatro Real in Madrid for Carmen, the Bavarian State Opera for Madama Butterfly, and the Berlin State Opera for Ariadne auf Naxos.
Displaying her versatility for a broad range of classical repertoire, she will give a series of orchestral concerts featuring works by composers from Beethoven to Stravinsky. In 2026, she will join the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, and Minnesota Orchestra along with her upcoming debut venues.Kim’s career has already featured several notable orchestral engagements that she continues to build upon, including Berlin Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Philharmonia, Los Angeles and New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Boston Symphony.
Additionally, she continues to be active with Barcelona Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Detroit Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Her collaboration with the National Brass Ensemble—featuring a new arrangement of Wagner’s Ring cycle—was released by Pentatone on the album Deified.
Kim appears regularly at many of the world’s leading opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, Semperoper Dresden, the Berlin State Opera, the Opéra national de Paris, and Teatro alla Scala in Milan. On the heels of Kim’s Met debut in 2021, noted for an “assured technical command, subtlety and imagination,” The New York Times recognized her as Classical Music’s Breakout Star.
Since 2021, Kim's tenure at the San Francisco Opera has given the house a new vision for its second century as a center of creative development and artistic direction. She has been involved in outstanding productions including Un ballo in maschera, Tristan und Isolde, Idomeneo, Il trovatore, Lohengrin, Dialogues des Carmélites, La traviata, Fidelio, Die Zauberflöte, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and the world premiere of John Adams’ Antony and Cleopatra. Her prominent position in the North American opera scene has also been underscored by acclaimed appearances at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Los Angeles Opera, the Washington National Opera and the Houston Grand Opera, and extended beyond the theater with the release of the full-length documentary Eun Sun Kim: A Journey into Lohengrin by the San Francisco Opera in fall 2024, which was nominated for two Northern California Emmy Awards.
Outside of San Francisco, Kim maintains an active career in Europe, where she recently performed La Bohème at both La Scala and the Vienna State Opera, Les contes d'Hoffmann at the Opéra national de Paris , a staged Requiem by Verdi at the Dutch National Opera, Carmen at the Zurich Opera and Hansel and Gretel at the Bavarian State Opera. She has also performed frequently at the Berlin State Opera, the Oper Frankfurt , the Royal Swedish Opera and the Royal Danish Opera, with a varied repertoire ranging from Ariadne auf Naxos , Il barbiere di Siviglia , La bohème , Die Csárdásfürstin , The Count of Luxembourg , The Flying Dutchman and Madama Butterfly to Un ballo in maschera , La sonnambula , La traviata and Il trovatore .
Eun Sun Kim studied composition and conducting in her hometown of Seoul (South Korea) before continuing her studies in Stuttgart. Immediately after graduating, she won first prize at the International Jesús López Cobos Opera Conducting Competition at the Teatro Real in Madrid.
2025/26
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