Scott Yoo

Yoo was born in Tokyo in 1971. His father was Korean and his mother was Japanese.[1][2]

Raised in Glastonbury, Connecticut, Yoo began studying the violin at the age of three and later performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the age of 12. He studied with Dorothy DeLay and Paul Kantor at the Juilliard School and won the Josef Gingold International Violin Competition in Brazil.[3] He enrolled at Harvard where he studied physics after accidentally breaking his index finger.[4]

In 1994 Yoo participated in the founding of the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, which he conducted at its subscription series at Jordan Hall in Boston and on tour. At age 26 he became the Assistant Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra,[4] and thereafter conducted different orchestras such as San Francisco Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Utah Symphony, and New World Symphony among others. He conducted the St Paul Chamber Orchestra in their Elliott Carter Festival and in his Carnegie Hall debut.[5] In Europe, he conducted the City of London Sinfonia, the Britten Sinfonia, Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, the Ensemble orchestral de Paris, Odense Symphony Orchestra and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. In Asia, Mr. Yoo led the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Busan Philharmonic in Korea.[6]

In 2002, Yoo became the Conductor of the Colorado College Summer Music Festival, and Music Director of the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival in 2005, now called Festival Mozaic.[6]

In 2011, he founded Festicámara chamber music program bringing underprivileged musicians and international artists together in Medellín, Colombia.[6]

In 2016, Yoo was elected to become conductor of the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra.[7]

Yoo has recorded for Bridge Records, New World, Naxos, and Sony Classical. In 2019, he recorded two cello concerto albums with the London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Scottish National Orchestra for Sony Music.

In September 2019 Yoo hosted Now Hear This, a music appreciation program presented by the Great Performances series aired through the PBS American network.[8]

Yoo is married to flutist Alice Dade, a professor at the University of Missouri , with whom he co-hosted the Now Hear This series.[8]

• French Cello Concertos, Hee-Young Lim, London Symphony Orchestra, Sony Classical, London 2018, CD.
• Dvorak and Enesco Cello Concertos, Bion Tsang, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sony Classical, Glasgow 2018, CD
• Earl Kim Orchestral Works, RTE National Symphony Orchestra, Naxos, Dublin 2004, CD
• Mark O’Connor American Seasons, Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, Sony Classical, Boston 2001, CD

• Official website
• Scott Yoo at AllMusic