Stephen Kim, violin
Winner of top prizes at the 2019 Queen Elisabeth (Third Prize), 2018 Premio Paganini (Third Prize), and 2016 Sendai (Second Prize) international violin competitions, violinist Stephen Kim is internationally recognized as a leading artist of the younger generation, praised for his musical authenticity and sensitivity. He has appeared as a soloist with the Brussels Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Belgian National Orchestra, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra, Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra, Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Carmel Symphony Orchestra, Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra, the Aspen Music Festival orchestras, and the Curtis and Juilliard orchestras, among many others.
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A passionate chamber musician, Stephen has performed and collaborated with Isabelle Faust, Christian Tetzlaff, Nobuko Imai, Tabea Zimmermann, Antoine Tamestit, Gary Hoffmann, Jörg Widmann, and musicians from the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Philadelphia Orchestra, among others. Along with recent recitals and chamber music performances at Wigmore Hall in London, Konzerthaus Berlin, Carnegie Hall in New York, and Seoul Arts Center, Stephen has also performed at the Marlboro Music Festival, Kronberg Festival, Seoul International Music Festival, Krzyżowa-Music Chamber Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Kingston Chamber Music Festival, Evnin Rising Stars at Caramoor, and Verbier Festival.
Stephen is also an avid performer of contemporary music and has given numerous premieres of works by living composers. He stunned the Belgian audience and listeners worldwide at the Queen Elisabeth Competition with his performance from memory of the final-round commissioned work, Kimmo Hakola’s “Fidl”, a 20-minute violin concerto given to the finalists seven days before the performance. Stephen also performed Steven Mackey’s “Beautiful Passing” violin concerto from memory in its New York premiere at Carnegie Hall. In collaboration with Korean composer Shinuh Lee, Stephen recorded an album, Till Dawn (Sony Classical, 2021), featuring Lee’s works for violin and including two new pieces, the Violin Sonata No. 2 “Till Dawn” and Caprice No. 1 for Solo Violin “Kkot”, both written for and dedicated to Stephen.
Stephen’s passion for the violin began with rubber bands wrapped around a tissue box before starting to play the instrument at the age of 3. He studied with Shmuel Ashkenasi, Joseph Silverstein, and Aaron Rosand at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he received his Bachelor’s degree; with Hyo Kang at the Juilliard School, where he received his Master’s degree and Artist Diploma; and with Antje Weithaas at the Kronberg Academy in Germany, where he completed the Professional Studies program.