By So Yun Kim

Most Korean parents dream of their children going to Harvard and becoming a doctor, or a lawyer or a top dog in the business world.

That’s the all-too-familiar Korean American success route.

Edward Yim, born the only child of Korean immigrants in Gardena, did just that as a dutiful Korean son.

The LA native had followed the elite school route: Harvard-Westlake Prep School, then to Andover, the New England boarding school, and finally Harvard University.

Armed with a degree in government, the Harvard graduate became a management consultant in New York.

But Yim realized that he had no personal connection with consulting but rather with music, as the thirty-something new director of artistic planning for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association looked back in a recent interview.

He chose to take that leap of faith and took up a new profession unfamiliar to his parents generation. What was his parents’ initial reaction?

"They’re quite understanding and supportive now," said Yim, the first Korean American to take charge of artistic planning fo the $50-million world-class orchestra.

He will be responsible for coordinating all its programming including the orchestras, concerts, presentation series and the ever-popular Hollywood Bowl summer series.

The LA Philharmonic boasts 105 musicians, various blue chip corporate sponsors and the long-awaited 2,290-seat Walt Disney Concert Hall under construction from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

A daunting task indeed, but for the soft-spoken Yim appeared almost Zen-like in his small cluttered office, having only started less than five months ago.

Playing great music and serving the community are his two primary goals in his new venture in his hometown in pursuit of musical excellence for all who live and visit L.A.

"I love LA. I am excited to be here and to rediscover and reconnect with the city and with the Korean American community," said Yim, looking like an East Coast Ivy Leaguer that he is in a light blue button-down with dark green cords.

In the esteemed opinion of LA Philharmonic’s executive vice president Deborah Borda, "His experience with other great American orchestras in Cleveland and Philadelphia gives him the ideal portfolio."

It was at Andover that Yim first got involved actively with music. He played the piano and sang in the school choir. Yim credits his boarding school music teacher who inspired him and all the students to love music.

Yim’s interest in music followed him to Harvard.

Thus Yim’s one time hobby has become his passion and ultimately his career. He found his new "calling" in life in music. "It wasn’t for the money," he said repeatedly.

How does one become an orchestral administrator? "I knew I wasn’t a great performer, but I want to be around great people who were great performers. Working in orchestral management afforded me the opportunity to do that."

Yim continued his education by receiving his MBA from Chase Western Reserve University. "I wanted a graduate
degree and felt that receiving my MBA was useful in a management and leadership capacity."

The Disney Hall looming ahead as the first permanent home for his LA Philharmonic, Yim declared, "It will be an icon for L.A.to the world like the Sydney Opera Home." The hall will be inaugurated in the 2003 fall.

But the messages to all of L.A. should be: "You are welcome here," he said. "The hall is a community/neighborhood asset and not just a cultural icon."