Honors Orchestra

Dr. Jungho Kim, Director of Orchestras and Associate Professor of Conducting at the UNCG School of Music, has established an outstanding reputation over the past two decades for his superb musicality and leadership on the podium. He has conducted numerous orchestras around the world including the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Canada, Savaria Symphony Orchestra and Dohnanyi Orchestra Budafok in Hungary, Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra, Omaha Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, and Buffalo Philharmonic. After successfully leading the Augustana University Orchestra, Kim has served as the Director of Orchestra at the Hugh A. Glauser School of Music at Kent State University. He was recently named Music Director and Conductor of the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra as well as the Tuscarawas Philharmonic.

Following his first professional three-year position as a section violinist at Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra in Korea, Kim went on to earn two master’s degrees in violin performance and orchestral conducting from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. It was the renowned conductor Maestra Xian Zhang—Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and La Verdi Orchestra Sinfonica in Milan, Italy—who offered Kim the position as Associate Conductor of the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra.

Kim completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music under the guidance of Maestro Neil Varon. He served as the assistant conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic and was awarded the Walter Hagen Conducting Prize during his doctoral studies. Along with the opportunities he has had to study with world famous artists, such as Maestro Kurt Masur and Pinchas Zukerman, his most meaningful successes in life have been meeting his wife, violinist Dr. Eunho Kim, and raising their two boys, Teo and Juno, as well as their dog, Kobi.

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Hailed by a class of 2nd graders as “wreely nice and kind” and “the coolest man on erth,” Arizona native Taylor Morris enjoys blurring the line between violin and fiddle. Strongly believing we can learn more about the world through collaboration with others, he actively pursues musical projects in different genres. Currently, he is part of Tricia & Taylor, a genre-bending violin/fiddle duo with concert violinist Tricia Park, and a member of The Sound Accord, a string sextet that creates vibrant arrangements of folk music. After studying classical violin at Arizona State University with Dr. Katie McLin, he spent four years touring with Barrage, a world-music violin troupe based out of Canada. His travels, both with Barrage and personally, have led to performances in 48 states and 13 countries with musicians from a multitude of backgrounds, including Mike Block, Hanneke Cassel, Brittany Haas, Natalie Haas, Jeremy Kittel, Lauren Rioux, and the Tetra String Quartet. Additionally, Taylor has the unique experience of having performed as a featured concert soloist with each major type of musical ensemble: orchestra, band, and choir. 
 
Offstage, Taylor obtained a master’s in education from Harvard University and is a passionate advocate for arts education. Since 2000, Taylor’s teaching has taken him into classrooms around the country, from kindergartens to colleges, including as a continuing Guest Lecturer at Arizona State University. He frequently works with educators in professional development settings and has presented at the national conferences for the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and at The Midwest Clinic. Cherishing his own childhood experiences at summer music camps, Taylor frequently teaches at camps around the country and directs his own camp for young musicians in the Phoenix area called StringPlay. During the school year, he is a committed private teacher with a dynamic studio of violinists and fiddlers. Additionally, Taylor is a founding co-director of the Gilbert Town Fiddlers (GTF), an extracurricular high school fiddle group that collaborates to create its own arrangements for performances. Of note, GTF students were invited to present and perform at the 2019 and 2024 National ASTA Conferences! Through his teaching, Taylor is ultimately on a mission to help students and educators alike experience the thrill of taking musical ownership and finding their own meaningful ways to make music. 

Honors Orchestra Sample Schedule