Jung-Ho Pak

Jung-Ho Pak (born February 4, 1962 in Burlingame, California) is an American symphony conductor. He was Artistic Director of the San Diego Symphony and of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, of which he is now Conductor Emeritus. He was Music Director of the Diablo Ballet and the NEXT Generation Chamber Orchestra. He was artistic director of the now-defunct Orchestra Nova San Diego. Pak guest conducts internationally in Europe, Asia and Latin America. He is the Director of the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra, as well as musical director of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra and the director of orchestras at the Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Education

Pak began studying the piano at age 6, and three years later, he was awarded a scholarship to the San Francisco Conservatory and enrolled in a college music theory class. He began studying clarinet at age 11, and played in bands and orchestras into college.

• B. A., Music, University of California, Santa Cruz, (1980-2)
• Assoc. of California Symphony Orch. Conducting Seminar, Franz Allers (1982)
• San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Michael Senturia, Jahja Ling (1982-4)
• Tanglewood Conducting Seminar, (1983)
• M.M. University of Southern California, Daniel Lewis (1984-6)
• Herbert Blomstedt Conducting Institute, Master Class (1985)
• Redlands Symphony Conducting Institute (1986-7)
• American Conductors Guild Seminar, Harold Farberman, Dan Lewis (1987)
• Music Academy of the West, (1989)

Career

Early in his career, Pak was a conductor and professor at several schools including the University of California, Berkeley and University of California, Santa Barbara, Idyllwild Arts Academy, and Lehigh University. In 1988, he won a national conducting competition with the Young Musicians Foundation's Debut Orchestra.

In 1997, Pak was appointed music director the San Diego Symphony to lead it out of bankruptcy, which eventually became an artistic and financial success, receiving one of the largest endowment pledges in American orchestral history (over $110 million). In 1998, Pak succeeded Daniel Lewis as music director of the University of Southern California Symphony and was also named music director at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra. In 1999, he additionally became music director of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, with which he was named Music Director Emeritus in 2007.

Since 2003, Pak has been director of orchestras and music director of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, one of the largest and oldest arts camps in the country. In 2006 the San Diego Chamber Orchestra appointed Pak as artistic director and conductor; in 2009 the ensemble changed their name to Orchestra Nova San Diego to reflect their innovative artistic aspirations under Pak's leadership. In 2007 Pak began his tenure as artistic director and conductor of the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra, one of the largest orchestras in Massachusetts (second only to the Boston Symphony Orchestra). In 2008, Pak was a guest conductor for the 2008 ASTA National High School Honors Orchestra. In 2015, Pak was the conductor for the 2015 NAfME All-National Honors Symphony Orchestra.