I am a Los Angeles native. I was selected by the vice chairperson and musicians of the Vienna Philharmonic to be one of two 2018 American Austrian Foundation (formerly "Karajan") Conducting Fellows with the Vienna Philharmonic. There, I assisted Andris Nelsons, Esa-Pekka Salonen; Vienna Philharmonic, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks; Augustin Hadelich, and Håkan Hardenberger. While in residence at the Salzburg Festival, I additionally learned from Roger Norrington, Teodor Currentzis, Kirill Petrenko, Herbert Blomstedt, Simon Rattle, Plácido Domingo, Constantinos Carydis, Riccardo Minasi, Kent Nagano, Franz Welser-Möst, Mariss Jansons, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti; Berliner Philharmoniker, London and Montréal symphonies, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, MusicAeterna, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Camerata Salzburg, Vienna State Opera Chorus; Gautier Capuçon, and Yuja Wang.
I conducted the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in concert under David Zinman's supervision; have conducted the Jacksonville, Omaha, Virginia, Austin, and Winston-Salem symphonies in various capacities; and have served as assistant conductor for David Zinman and James Conlon (La Jolla Music Society SummerFest), Mei-Ann Chen and Eckert Preu (Long Beach Symphony), Stéphane Denève at Disney Concert Hall, and Larry Rachleff (Music Academy of the West). A 2014 recipient of the Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation Conducting Scholarship, I have led the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music Symphony Orchestra (made of major orchestra musicians) in performances. I have collaborated with, assisted, or covered concerts for Gil Shaham, Gabriela Lena Frank, Leon Fleisher, Gloria Cheng, David Kim, Jonathan Biss, Gabriela Montero, Joseph Horowitz, Anne Akiko Meyers, Olga Kern, India Carney, Kelly Kuo, Jaime Laredo, Karina Canellakis, and Cho-Liang Lin, among others.
I have worked as assistant conductor for the Austin Symphony and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. I served as music director and conductor for the University of Texas University Orchestra, building it from 40 to over 100 auditioned members within two years. Official anonymous university evaluations of my teaching by students averaged 4.4 - 5.0 out of 5.0 across all categories with dozens of comments using terms like passion, energy, inspiring, very organized, economic rehearsals, friendly, and tactful collegial manner. I achieved Second Place nationally for the 2014 American Prize in Conducting - University Division. I have also worked with the Spokane Symphony’s El Sistema youth orchestra initiative Music Innovates, the Buddha's Light Youth Symphony based in California's largest Buddhist temple in Hacienda Heights, and the Irvine Classical Players and Seraphim youth orchestras. I sang in the UCLA and Angeles Chorales and St. Thomas Hollywood Choir. I have conducted the UCLA Chorale, University of Texas University Chorus, as well as community and church choirs and musical theater.
I received a Master of Music degree, on a full teaching assistantship, as one of two orchestral conducting students at the University of Texas Austin - Butler School of Music. There, I was additionally awarded the Narboni Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Conducting and was assistant conductor for the University of Texas Symphony. Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, I previously studied at UC San Diego where I was exposed to a wide range of twentieth century, contemporary, and global musics. I was the youngest full participant in masterclasses with Marin Alsop, James Ross, Jennifer Higdon, David Effron, and David Loebel, and I've also attended Kevin Noe's.
I am the first person in my family to go to college. I grew up in the Los Angeles Unified School District system. My parents grew up in conditions similar to those in present-day North Korea. They escaped North Việt Nam in the middle of a night in 1979 on a rusty fishing boat with only the clothes they were wearing. They traveled the ocean for 30 days. Many of the boats that float away from places such as Cuba, Việt Nam, and Syria do not make it. My parents, with my dad’s family, luckily made it to Hong Kong. From there they were sponsored to Los Angeles. With only a middle school education, no English, and no money, my parents started as burger flippers at a McDonald's in San Fernando Valley, California. For 10 years, my mom’s family did not know what had happened to her; during the time, people in North Việt Nam would disappear without explanation. She was eventually able to write a letter to her family informing them that she was safe in the United States expecting her first child (me). My mom’s side of the family resides in Hà Nội, Việt Nam to this day.
A very important part of my life is my younger brother, Michael, whom I spent half of my childhood and most of my twenties raising intellectually. He mastered complex multiplication/division at age four(!), finished reading the Harry Potter and Goosebumps series by age six, and garnered piano awards after age four among many early achievements; this trajectory continued across many subjects from there. In 2016, he accepted the University of California Berkeley - Drake Scholarship. This was a four year, full tuition, all-expenses-paid, solely "merit-based" scholarship ($140,000+); it was their highest honor awarded to an incoming undergraduate. About six Drake Scholars were named each year. He attended college with an additional National Merit Scholarship ($10,000) from his PSAT/NMSQT score. Michael is now a polyglot Stanford University engineering graduate student on fellowship.
These life experiences have influenced my work as a collaborator and teacher. In my work, values I strive to promote include honesty and high ethical standards, curiosity, compassion, passion, meticulousness, work ethics, persistence, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.