Mina Kim, hailed as a “spirited conductor” by Brooklyn Discovery and praised for having “led the orchestra to such precision and clarity in performance” by The Overlook, is Music Director of the Woodstock Symphony Orchestra and the Purchase Symphony Orchestra. Recognized for her expressive interpretations and innovative programming, she is dedicated to expanding her orchestras’ artistic spectrum and strengthening their connection with surrounding communities. Under her leadership, the Woodstock Symphony Orchestra’s most recent season was a resounding success with every concert performing to sold-out audiences.

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A versatile musician, Kim’s work spans symphonic, operatic, contemporary, and popular repertoire, with performances across the world. Her artistry has been recognized by leading musicians, including Joshua Bell, who invited her to rehearse and refine Thomas de Hartmann’s Violin Concerto, and Grammy-nominated Black Violin, whom she conducted in a symphonic collaboration at the Performing Arts Center. Recently, she was invited to conduct the Mannes Orchestra in two concerts in New York City. In Westchester, she led a landmark collaboration between the Purchase Symphony Orchestra and the Westchester Chamber Soloists, paving the way for an upcoming project: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 “Choral” with WCS, the New Choral Society, and the Purchase Chorus at the PAC in March 2026. On campus, she has also spearheaded visionary cross-genre projects, including a multimedia collaboration with Purchase College’s School of Film and Media Studies, integrating Philip Glass’s Glassworks with original films by students, and co-directing Purchase Soul Voices in PSO’s annual Black History Month Celebration.

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Beyond the podium, Kim is an accomplished concert pianist, vocal coach, and chamber musician. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2007 and has since appeared as a soloist with major orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States. She has also performed at leading international festivals, including the Vienna Music Seminar in Austria and the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in Maine, and has served on the faculty of opera programs such as Si Parla, Si Canta and Classic Lyric Arts in Italy and France.

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Kim holds a B.M. from Busan National University, as well as an M.M. and Artist Diploma in Piano Performance from Purchase College. She continued her studies in Vocal Collaborative Piano and Orchestral Conducting through the Professional Studies Diploma program at Mannes School of Music, where she also served as Assistant Conductor of the Mannes American Contemporary Ensemble and The Mannes Opera.

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Since 2006, Kim has been a faculty member at the Purchase College Conservatory of Music, where she currently serves as Chair of Classical Studies. Alongside her work on campus, she is deeply committed to sharing the power of orchestral music with wider audiences, building partnerships with local organizations, and mentoring musicians both in the college community and throughout the Hudson Valley.