Yoona is a conductor, violinist, and musicologist. After receiving her Doctorate in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Texas at Austin, Yoona won First Prize at the Denver Philharmonic’s 2022 Conducting Competition. She also won the Best Interpretation Prize at the 17th Khachaturian International Competition and was a finalist at the Arthur Nikisch Competition. Along with the Denver Philharmonic, Jeong has worked with professional orchestras including the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Austin Symphony Orchestra, and Korean Symphony Orchestra. She serves as Director of Orchestra and Assistant Professor of Music at Slippery Rock University.

She was a music director of the University of Texas University Orchestra and an assistant conductor of the University of Texas Symphony Orchestra. In addition, she actively worked with the Sarah and Ernest Butler Opera Center, where she conducted Jonathan Dove’s contemporary opera Mansfield Park, as well as the world premiere of Audition Fever. She assisted several operas, including Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, of which she took lead in preparing the musicians for James Conlon, the music director of the Los Angeles Opera. She also worked as an assistant conductor of the Austin Symphony under Peter Bay.

Jeong is a well-rounded musician with a diverse musical background. She graduated with honors from Busan Arts School as a violin performance major. She performed E. Lalo’s Symphony Espagnole with the Czech Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and has continued to play the violin in ensembles such as the American Prize-winning Baylor Symphony Orchestra and the Monteux Festival Orchestra. She has had unique experiences teaching violin for a disabled orchestra in South Korea. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Musicology at Seoul National University in South Korea where she graduated summa cum laude and received the Chancellor’s Award. In 2014, she matriculated at the University of Southern California and earned a Master’s Degree in Choral Music at the Thornton School of Music. In 2018, she earned a second Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting at Baylor University.

Adding to her international experience, Jeong has been invited to the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the Princeton Festival, the Medomak Music Festival, and the Pierre Monteux School and Music Festival. She was also invited to participate in the 1st Korean Symphony Orchestra International Conducting Competition and the 11th International Conducting Competition Jeunesses Musicales Bucharest. She has participated in masterclasses with Cristian Măcelaru, Kenneth Kiesler, James Conlon, Carl St. Clair, Ludovic Morlot, Neil Varon, David Itkin, Michael Jinbo, and Jan Harrington. Her principal teachers include Farkhad Khudyev and Stephen Heyde, and she has received mentorship from Carl St.Clair, Douglas Kinney Frost, Kelly Kuo, and Ryan Kelly.