Dr. Soo Han
Dr. Soo Han is the Director of Orchestral Studies at George Mason University’s Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music in Fairfax, Virginia; Music Director of the Elkhart County Symphony in Indiana; and a member of the Board of Directors of the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. He is a composer and arranger with Hal Leonard, and is also a contributing editor for Essential Elements for Strings.
As an active conductor, Dr. Han has appeared with numerous professional and university orchestras. He is a frequent conductor for all-state, regional, and honor orchestras, appearing in more than 30 states, and has conducted ensembles in Australia, Austria, China, and Thailand. He has produced multiple recordings of complete symphonies, and has premiered several commissioned works for strings and full orchestras. Dr. Han has presented workshops and clinics internationally and for nearly every major national and state music conference, including Australian String Teacher Conference, Maryborough National Australia Conference, The Midwest Clinic, ASTA National Conference, NAfME National Conference, and Ohio University Summer String Teacher Workshop. Prior to his position at George Mason, Dr. Han served as the Director of Orchestral Studies at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music in Berea, Ohio and was the program coordinator and faculty member with Los Angeles Philharmonic’s summer YOLA program.
Dr. Han is a Conn-Selmer Educational Clinician, and co-author, contributor, and managing editor for Teaching Music through Performance in Orchestra, Vol. 4, one of the leading orchestra pedagogical resources published by GIA. He is a past president of the Indiana American String Teachers Association and his high school orchestras were nine-time Indiana State School Music Association champions. Having taught in the public schools for fifteen years, he is a passionate supporter of school music programs, and continues to remain active in instrumental classrooms throughout the country.
Soo received his Bachelor of Instrumental Music Education degree from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where he studied piano under Edward Auer. He received his Master of Science in Education from the Indiana University School of Education, and his Doctorate in Orchestral Conducting from the Michigan State University College of Music, where he studied under Kevin Noe. Soo grew up in rural Pennsylvania, and now resides in Arlington, Virginia, where he has a beautiful view of the monuments of Washington, D.C. He enjoys distance running, eating amazing food, and traveling near and far with his partner, Gregory, and his faithful canine companion, Lenny.
