Since his formal conducting debut at age 17, conductor and violist Kisun Sung has conducted many ensembles around the world including the National Symphony (Washington, D.C.), New Jersey Symphony, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Carlos Chavez Sinfonica, New Amsterdam Symphony, Philharmonische Staatsorchester Halle, Presidential Symphony Orchestra of Turkey, Hungarian National Symphony Orchestra Szeged, Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, Nova Filarmonia Portguesa and most of the important Korean orchestras including KBS Symphony and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. He was invited by Daniel Barenboim to be Apprentice Conductor of the Chicago Symphony where he rehearsed the ensemble and worked extensively with the maestro. He was the youngest participant and second place winner at the Pedro Freitas de Branco conducting competition in Lisbon, Portugal, with a prize that included an invitation to lead four performances with the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra. An accomplished violist, Mr. Sung has performed extensively as a viola soloist, chamber musician, and orchestra player. He played principal viola under Leonard Bernstein at the Pacific Music Festival in Japan. He earned degrees from the Curtis Institute, the Juilliard School and Seoul National University. From 2000 to 2006, he served as the faculty member of the Juilliard School. As a result of his artistic achievement, the Korean government named him as Young Musician of the Year 2004. Currently he is the music director of Gangnam symphony Orchestra and professor in conducting and viola performance at Ewha University. He enjoys Zen meditation and believes that music is one of the strongest God-given tools that can unite people and bring peace to the world.