“I felt deeply touched and overwhelmed right from our rehearsals.”
South Korean conductor Kim Eun-sun (44) radiated joy. She has just finished three consecutive concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic (Berliner Philharmoniker), one of the world’s top orchestras, from Apr. 18-20. The Berlin Philharmonic, boasting a 140-year-old legacy, stands as one of the world’s foremost orchestras, guided by conducting greats such as Wilhelm Furtwängler and Herbert von Karajan. Reflecting on her experience in a video interview on Apr. 21 in Berlin, Kim remarked, “Despite only two days of practice followed by three consecutive days of performance, the Berlin Philharmonic imbued me with the belief that each subsequent day would be even more remarkable.”
Kim is the first Asian female conductor to lead the German orchestra in a regular concert. She was the second South Korean to lead the orchestra’s regular performances since Korea’s liberation from Japanese occupation, following in the footsteps of Chung Myung-whun (71), the first-ever conductor laureate of the KBS Symphony Orchestra. “When the conductor gives the orchestra members discretion and space, they exude more capabilities, and that energy is transmitted back to the conductor. I could see why the Berlin Philharmonic is the best in the world,” she said.
For her Berlin Philharmonic debut, Kim chose Rachmaninoff’s (1873-1943) Symphony No. 3 and Schoenberg’s (1874-1951) Erwartung (Expectation). Rachmaninoff is the pinnacle of late Russian Romanticism, while Schoenberg is the composer who marked the birth of demanding and esoteric modern music. “Though Rachmaninoff and Schoenberg were born just a year apart, their musical languages are vastly different, allowing me to explore contrasting dimensions,” the conductor remarked.
Her debut in conducting the Berlin Philharmonic was a significant breakthrough, overcoming the triple challenge of being a “young Asian female conductor.” Reflecting on her journey, she shared, “When I embarked on my conducting career two decades ago, the profession was starkly divided along gender lines, prompting me to question my path. However, witnessing the growing presence of young women conductors, even in assistant roles, fills me with optimism.”
Kim’s passion for conducting blossomed while studying composition at Yonsei University when she participated in an opera performance on campus in her senior year. “Conducting is a three-dimensional realization of two-dimensional information written on a piece of paper, so it all boils down to studying the score. Therefore, no matter which orchestra I conduct, my mindset is the same,” she said. Her dedication to musical excellence earned her the title of principal guest conductor at the Houston Grand Opera in 2018 and the first female director of the San Francisco Opera in 2019. “My ambition is to stage one Wagner and one Verdi opera annually in San Francisco, " she noted, “and this year, I will be conducting Beethoven’s ‘Symphony No. 9 (Choral Symphony)’ on the 200th anniversary of its premiere.”
In addition to her musical prowess, the conductor’s linguistic dexterity further enriches her artistic endeavors. Fluent in English, German, Spanish, Italian, and French, Kim harnesses the power of language to delve into the intricacies of operatic librettos and orchestral nuances. When she conducted Dvorak’s opera ‘Rusalka’ in 2019, she stunned the U.S. music scene by singing a Czech aria. In a local interview ahead of the Berlin Philharmonic performance, she said “Language serves as a gateway to deeper musical understanding, allowing me to connect with diverse audiences and orchestras on a profound level,” in fluent German.
