One of Japan’s leading conductors, Seikyo Kim has been the Artistic Partner of the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa since 2009.

He successfully completed his responsibility as the Principal Conductor of the Symfonieorkest van Vlaanderen (Flanders Symphony Orchestra) in Bruges, Belgium in 2013. Most recently, his musical enthusiasm is focused on building up and developing his own “Camerata” ensemble with young talented musicians following his career as the Principal Conductor of the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra in Yokohama.

Recent and future highlights among Seikyo Kim’s guest conductor engagements include the NHK Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, New Japan Philharmonic, Nagoya Philharmonic, Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Century Symphony Orchestra and the Sudwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, and Düsseldorfer Symphoniker in Germany in March 2014.

His recent cycles of the Brahms and Beethoven symphonies with the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, which have also been committed to disc, have attracted unprecedented acclaim in Japanese music press.
Osaka-born Seikyo Kim moved to the USA at the age of 14. He trained at the New England Conservatory in Boston and then went on to study with Seiji Ozawa in Tanglewood and Leopold Hager at the Musikhochschule in Vienna. He gave his debut in 1997 with the Osaka Symphony and was the 1998 winner of the prestigious International Nicolai Malko Competition for Young Conductors in Copenhagen. Seikyo Kim now lives in Osaka.

His fascination for historically-informed performances led him to become a pioneer of this style in his native country, with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Sir Roger Norrington being particularly strong influences. This approach informs his work in repertoire ranging from Mozart through to Brahms, Mahler and Shostakovich.