SUPPORT YOUR SYMPHONY

Photo Credit: Mio Arai & Jeff Sharoff

The Seattle Symphony is pleased to announce the appointment of Sunny Xuecong Xia as Douglas F. King Assistant Conductor, beginning September 2022. Xia currently serves as Assistant Conductor of the Phoenix Youth Symphony Orchestra and Arizona State University Symphony Orchestra where she is simultaneously pursuing a doctorate in Orchestral and Opera Conducting. Xia won the position after a thorough selection process, including a working rehearsal session with the Seattle Symphony and interview with a panel representing musicians, board and staff. Her zeal and passion for contemporary music will complement the Symphony’s history of bringing new music to audiences at Benaroya Hall and throughout the greater community.

As Assistant Conductor, Xia will contribute to several Education and Community Engagement programs including Link Up. She will also conduct the Family Concerts, which will begin in-person performances again during the 2022/2023 season. In addition to her performances with the Symphony, Xia will also serve as cover conductor for guest conductors throughout her appointment.

Recognized for her innate musicality, compelling presence and technical precision, conductor Sunny Xuecong Xia’s ability to forge an immediate and captivating connection with orchestras and audiences alike has led to engagements around the country. Currently, Xia is leading a production of La bohème with the Chandler Opera Company. She also recently appeared with double bassist Xavier Foley and violinist Eunice Kim in Foley’s poignant work For Justice and Peace, and served as cover conductor for Arizona Musicfest. In the 2020/2021 season, she appeared as guest conductor with the MusicaNova Orchestra, was invited to serve as Assistant Conductor at the National Music Festival and Pierre Monteux Music Festival.

A dynamic advocate for contemporary music and opera, she has led the CIM New Music Ensemble in music series such as the Cleveland NEOSonicFest and CIM New Music Series. She has led several world premieres, including Rodney Rogers’ Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra with violinist Christiano Rodrigues and the MusicaNova Orchestra. She also served as a Conducting Fellow in the 2020 Cortona Sessions for New Music Conductor and Advocate Virtual Summit. Equally at home in the opera pit, Xia was the assistant conductor for productions of several operas, including Hänsel und Gretel, Die Zauberflöte, The Juniper Tree, Le Rossignol and L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. Dedicated to bringing music to the community, while in Cleveland, Xia organized and led concerts in retirement communities and elementary schools, including an interactive presentation of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf in East Cleveland for an audience of 4th and 5th graders.

During the 2019/2020 season, Xia was selected by Marin Alsop as a Conducting Fellow in the Peabody Conducting Workshop. She was also appointed Apprentice Conductor at the North American New Opera Workshop and served as cover conductor for the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and Firelands Symphony Orchestra.

Originally from Guangzhou, China, Xia relocated to Sydney, Australia at the age of 14 on a sponsorship from the Australian String Academy. Xia holds a dual master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting and Violin Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music where she studied under the tutelage of Carl Topilow and Jan Mark Sloman. Her conducting teachers include Jeffery Meyer, Tito Muñoz, Brian DeMaris, and Michael Jinbo. Xia is also a talented basketball athlete and previously competed in the semi-professional New South Wales Metro Junior League. When not performing or enjoying a pick-up game, Xia can be found reading, kayaking or learning languages. She speaks Cantonese, English, German, Mandarin and Teochew, and is improving her French and Italian.