John Young Shik Concklin is in the house (Photo by Eli Warren).
After launching a months-long search for a new music director — including staging three trial concerts led by the three contenders, in the name of audience input and heightened suspense — Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra organizers recently announced they had made their choice. John Young Shik Concklin conducts the Atlanta Music Project and Piedmont Chamber Orchestra in Spartanburg, SC, and had vied for the honor with conductors Yuriy Bekker and Timothy Verville. Finding out he had won, Concklin tells Bold Life, “was equal parts excitement and joy. Excitement because I love HSO and the Hendersonville community — joy because becoming a music director is something I’ve been working toward for over two decades.” He goes on to praise “an intangible specialness” about HSO, from board members to staff to audience. The director steps up in time to steer the symphony’s long-anticipated 50th season. “We have the opportunity to create something meaningful together,” says Concklin. “I’m so eager to begin.”
