John Young Shik Concklin is Music Director of the Spartanburg Philharmonic and Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra. He also serves as Conductor with the Atlanta Music Project and Piedmont Chamber Orchestra. For the 2023/24 season, he is also a Music Director Finalist with the Walla Walla Symphony in Washington State.

 

John has been a finalist for the 2019-2020 American Prize in Conducting. He has competed internationally at the Almaty, the Nino Rota, and the Città di Brescia Conducting Competitions. He is also regularly invited to cover-conduct for the the Nashville, Atlanta, and Kansas City Symphony Orchestras.

 

Previous positions include Associate Conductor of the Georgia Symphony, Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, and faculty appointments at Vanderbilt, Clemson, Furman and Converse Universities  He has been a fellowship conductor at the Aspen Music Festival, a teaching assistant at the Brevard Music Center, and a finalist at the New World Symphony and Debut Orchestras. 

 

A flexible musician, John has also performed at the Super Bowl Halftime Show and has collaborated with Monica, a Grammy-winning R&B artist.

 

John studied at Vanderbilt University, Yale University, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. His mentors include David Zinman, Carl Topilow, Shinik Hahm, and Robin Fountain. He received further training from Lorin Maazel and Michael Tilson-Thomas. 

 

John and his wife, Lauren Maxwell, co-founded Mozart for a Cause, a multi genre chamber music concert that fundraises for local causes.