Roberto Abbado Tells Emerging Korean Conductors to Build Their Own Voice
The Korean National Symphony Orchestra’s latest conductor workshop paired four emerging musicians with Roberto Abbado and Los Angeles Philharmonic chief Kim Noltemy, combining podium training with lessons on leadership and the modern orchestra business.
Italian conductor Roberto Abbado urged four emerging conductors in Seoul to move beyond the mindset of being students and develop distinct artistic identities during the Korean National Symphony Orchestra’s latest conductor workshop.
The three-day program, held from Sept. 14 to 16, brought together Kwon Soo-jeong, Oh Seong-bin, Jeong Sun-woo and Choi Jae-hyuck. They were selected from a field of 37 applicants and arrived with experience studying or working with orchestras and institutions in Europe and the United States.
Abbado, the Korean National Symphony Orchestra’s eighth music director, framed his role as sharing experience rather than imposing a single conducting style. He said the four participants displayed markedly different personalities and emphasized that a conductor’s individual musical identity cannot simply be copied from a mentor. Technique can be refined through instruction, but the artistic decisions that shape a performance must ultimately come from the person on the podium.
The participants took turns conducting the KNSO Academy Orchestra and then reviewed recordings of their performances. Abbado and Kim Noltemy, president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, offered feedback after the sessions. The academy orchestra served as the workshop ensemble for the first time, creating a learning setting for both the conductors and the musicians playing under them.
The program also addressed the expanding responsibilities of conductors away from rehearsals and concerts. In a lecture on the conductor’s role in an American orchestra, Noltemy discussed the leadership and organizational demands now attached to the position. She said conductors do not need to become arts administrators, but they do need to understand the environment in which an orchestra operates and recognize that artistic priorities exist alongside financial and institutional realities.
That broader focus reflects the increasingly complex career path facing young conductors. Success requires more than clear gestures and musical interpretation: conductors must communicate with players, work with management and help an institution connect with its audience. At the same time, Abbado’s advice placed artistic independence at the center of that process.
By combining podium work, video review and institutional insight, the workshop gave the four participants a practical view of the profession. Its central message was that mentorship should equip emerging conductors to make their own choices, rather than reproduce the style of an established figure.