Biography

Sungwook Kim is a conductor working in Germany, with a focus on opera and orchestral music. Since October 2026, he has been Assistant to the Chorus Director and Solo Répétiteur with conducting duties at Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar.

On 15 July 2026, Kim conducted in a public concert with the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, following a public concert with the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen on 13 July 2026. These performances form part of his recent orchestral conducting activity in Germany.

His forthcoming conducting engagements include a public concert with the Bodensee Philharmonie Konstanz on 12 November 2026 and the premiere of Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro in Stuttgart on 30 January 2027.

On 20 September 2024, he conducted the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester during the Dirigierwoche with Michael Sanderling, held as part of the selection process for the Assistant Conductor position. In May 2024, he conducted performances of Nicolai’s Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor in Leipzig. These experiences connect his orchestral work with his activity in music theatre.

Kim’s opera-house experience includes work as an opera répétiteur at Theater Altenburg-Gera, beginning in August 2025. His production experience there includes Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Richard Strauss’s Arabella as répétiteur, and M. Baron’s Frankenstein in répétition and keyboard duties. He was a guest répétiteur at Oper Leipzig under a ZV contract in 2023–2024.

Since 2023, he has maintained a recurring collaboration with Goethe-Theater Bad Lauchstädt and the Festspiel der deutschen Sprache as répétiteur and in musical assistance. Productions include Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Die Zauberflöte. His repertoire in musical preparation also includes Janáček’s Das schlaue Füchslein and Verdi’s La traviata. These credits describe his work in musical preparation and assistance, with performance conducting identified separately.

Since 2025, Kim has pursued a master’s degree in orchestral conducting at HMDK Stuttgart with Prof. Rasmus Baumann, also studying répétition with Prof. Cornelis Witthoefft. He completed his bachelor’s degree in orchestral conducting at HMT Leipzig, where he studied with Prof. Matthias Foremny from 2019 to 2025.

His earlier studies in Seoul were in composition at Kyung Hee University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree with Prof. Seunglim Kim between 2013 and 2017. During his studies in Seoul, Kim conducted more than 100 contemporary works, the majority of them world premieres.