The Lucy Moore Ruffin Chair

In November, 2024, Sophie Sze-Ki Mok began her tenure as Assistant Conductor of the North Carolina Symphony.

Sophie Sze-Ki Mok has served as the Assistant Conductor of the Asian Youth Orchestra for 2023 and 2024, where she assisted conductors Joseph Bastian and Jader Bignamini. Her recent engagements include serving as the cover conductor for five programs with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra working with conductors including Marin Alsop, Jonathon Heyward, Thomas Wilkins, and Tan Dun. Previously, she was the Conducting Fellow of the Miami Symphony Orchestra as well as an Assistant Conductor of the Frost Symphony Orchestra at the University of Miami Frost School of Music.

Mok was selected to compete in the La Maestra Conducting Competition in 2024 and was one of several finalists to compete in Riccardo Muti’s Italian Opera Academy in 2022. In 2019, she won second prize at the International Conductor’s Competition held during the Deutsches Musikfest. For six years, she served as the conductor of the Hong Kong Youth Wind Philharmonia, mentoring young musicians from elementary school through college.

Born in Hong Kong, Mok began her musical journey as an oboist. She received her bachelor’s degree in oboe performance from Hong Kong Baptist University and later furthered her studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she earned a master’s degree. As a conductor, she holds a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), and an Artist Diploma in conducting from the University of Miami Frost School of Music under the tutelage of Gerard Schwarz.