Staff
Byung Woo KimMusic Director
Byung-Woo Kim is founder and Music Director of CPYO. He is currently a faculty member at West Valley College Music Depart-ment. His previous posts include Conductor of the San Jose Youth Symphony Concert Orchestra for the 2004-2007 season, Concertmaster of the San Jose Symphony for eight years and Concertmaster of the Julliard Symphony. Mr. Kim has served on the faculties of the of the San Francisco International Summer Music Fes-tival as Violin Professor and Conductor of the Festival Orchestra, the National Music Camp of Interlocken under the All-State Program and Summer Music Monterey, and Santa Clara University as violin professor. Since 1997 he has participated as a judge for the Irving M. Klein International String Competition. As soloist, Mr. Kim performed with San Jose Cleveland Ballet Orchestra, the San Jose Symphony, and the Master Sinfonia Chamber Orchestra, among others. As a violinist he has concertized extensively throughout the country with numerous professional orchestras and performed chamber music in-cluding the complete Beethoven Sonata Series for the Beethoven Center at the San Jose State University. Mr. Kim holds Masters of Music degrees from both the Julliard School of Music and the University of Michigan. He continued further studies in the Doctor of Musical Arts Program at the University of Southern California. He has participated in the Farberman’s Conductors Institute in New York and the International Academy of Advanced Conduct-ing with Dr. Leonid Korchmar.
Yoon Sang Timothy Cho
Dr. Yoon Sang Timothy Cho serves on the conducting faculty at the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College. He is also the Artistic Director of the Amadeo Philharmonic Society, which he founded in 2014, and the Music Director and Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra since 2016, succeeding maestro David Gilbert. At just 25, Dr. Cho made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut with a sold-out performance of the opera Seonbi: The Noble and Wise Man, which was hailed as a “tremendous success” (Newdaily) and praised for its “artistry of the highest standard” and “masterful conducting technique” (Asia Today).
Dr. Cho has guest conducted for numerous esteemed ensembles, including the New York Classical Symphony Orchestra and K-Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. He has frequently collaborated with the Union City Philharmonic Orchestra, particularly for their annual New York Winter Festival at Carnegie Hall. His additional achievements include being selected as a conducting fellow with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and serving as assistant conductor for the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra.
A committed music educator, Dr. Cho is also on the faculty of the Children’s Orchestra Society and actively mentors young musicians through his work with youth ensembles such as the NYC Honors Festival Symphony Orchestra, MSM Summer Orchestra, New York Classical Youth Orchestra, and California Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.
Born in San Jose, CA, Dr. Cho began his musical journey studying violin under Byung-Woo Kim. He later earned his bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Isaac Malkin and performed with ensembles including the Queensboro Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble 212, and Ensemble du Monde. He was also invited by renowned harpsichordist Kenneth Cooper to perform with the Berkshire Bach Society.
Dr. Cho’s versatility extends beyond classical music. In 2012, he toured with indie bands Young the Giant and Grouplove, performing at major venues such as the House of Blues, Terminal 5, Electric Factory, and 9:30 Club. That same year, he contributed to Declaration, an EP by Lawrence Trailer produced by Grammy-winning engineer Dave Clauss. His artistic contributions were further recognized in the award-winning 2018 documentary New York Scherzo by Shaan Couture.
Dr. Cho holds both Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Orchestral Conducting from the Manhattan School of Music, where he was mentored by distinguished conductors including David Gilbert, Kurt Masur, Leonard Slatkin, and George Manahan.
Rajan Panchal
Rajan Panchal is an oboist and conductor. He is a recent graduate of Manhattan School of Music’s renowned Orchestral Performance Program where he earned his Master’s in Orchestral Oboe as a student of Robert Botti, 2nd Oboist of the New York Philharmonic. He also holds a Bachelor’s in Oboe Performance from New York University where he studied with Liang Wang and Humbert Lucarelli.
Rajan has freelanced and toured extensively with professional orchestras and chamber groups throughout the U.S. and Europe. He has given solo, chamber, and orchestral performances in venues such as Disney Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, Ozawa Hall, Smetana Hall, Teatro Alfieri, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Recent highlights include performing with conductor Leonard Slatkin and actor Alex Baldwin in Slatkin’s 75th birthday celebration.
As a conductor, Rajan has had the privilege of conducting the premieres of new works in the New York City area. He is the woodwind coach at the California Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and has previously held the same position with the Hop3 Box Charity Orchestra. Rajan recently conducted the String Orchestra of Brooklyn in a masterclass with Phoenix Symphony Music Director Tito Munoz, conducting Barber’s Violin Concerto with famed violin soloist Giora Schmidt. Rajan studied conducting with New York Philharmonic Assistant Conductor Joshua Gersen.
Rajan is a recipient of the New York Philharmonic Stamas Fund Scholarship, the Claude Ghez Fellowship at NYU, and was a scholarship recipient of the Cirio Foundation. He is currently enrolled in the New England Conservatory where he is pursuing a performance-based Graduate Diploma in oboe performance, studying with Boston Symphony 2nd oboist Mark McEwen.
Anh Tuan Huynh
Anh Tuan Huynh, in addition to managing the California Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, is an educator and a freelance musician in the Bay Area. He received his Bachelor of Music from San Jose State University, with a concentration in Tuba Performance where he studied with Scott Choate and Rod Mathews. His professional playing career has brought him to highly esteemed performance halls such as Davies Symphony Hall and the Gewandhaus in Lepzig, Germany as well as collaborating with world renown artists such as Adam Rapa and Sir Simon Rattle.