Praised for her deeply felt musicality and inspiring temperament, Hyeju Jung is emerging as one of the compelling conductors in South Korea and Germany.
She gained international attention after winning first prize at the Lake Como International Conducting Competition 2021. Even before this success, she was a finalist at the Arthur Nikisch International Conducting Competition 2020 and the 2nd European Union Conducting Competition 2020, selected from over 300 applicants worldwide.
In 2022, she was appointed Music Director of the Junges Orchester Hamburg. She has since appeared with numerous distinguished ensembles, including the Philharmonisches Orchester Würzburg, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Prague Philharmonia, Salzburg Chamber Soloists, Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo, Jyväskylä Symphony Orchestra, Athens Philharmonia Orchestra, and many more. She has also frequently collaborated as assistant conductor with Ari Rasilainen at the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie. Hyeju Jung is equally passionate about opera conducting. In South Korea, she collaborated at the Korea Chamber Opera Festival at the Korea National Theater with productions of Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri, and Mozart’s The Magic Flute, among others. In Germany, she led performances of Eduard Künnecke’s Der Vetter aus Dingsda at the Opernschule Würzburg and Arnold Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire with the Ensemble Neue Musik Würzburg. She also conducted Elliott Carter’s Canon for 4 and Aydin Leon Pfeiffer’s (*1999) Study (world premiere) at the Tage der Neuen Musik in Würzburg 2020. In the 2021/22 season, she worked as a vocal and choir coach for the premiere of the art musical Undine at the Theater Chemnitz, Germany.
After completing her studies in composition at Sang-myung University in Seoul, Hyeju Jung was granted a scholarship to study organ at the Korea National University of Arts, where she received her bachelor’s degree. Later, she moved to Germany and completed her master’s degree with Prof. Martin Schmeding, studying organ improvisation with Prof. Thomas Lennartz at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy” in Leipzig. She also studied at Rice University in Houston, USA, with Prof. Ken Cowan, while pursuing conducting studies with Prof. Georg Christoph Sandmann and later with Prof. Ari Rasilainen at the Hochschule für Musik in Würzburg, where she earned her master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting. Furthermore, she has attended masterclasses and workshops with maestros Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Riccardo Frizza, Johannes Schlaefli, John Axelrod, Lior Shambadal, Bruno Weil and Alim Shakh.