About

Hye-Jin Kim, ViolinPhoto by Kristen Jensen

"…heart-stopping and unrivaled beauty… This was supremely musical playing, well thought out, yet of the moment."

Known for her musical sensitivity and deeply engaging performances that transport audiences beyond mere technical virtuosity, violinist Hye-Jin Kim leads a versatile career as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician since her First Prize win at the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition at the age of nineteen and a subsequent win at the Concert Artists Guild International Competition.

Kim has performed as soloist with major orchestras worldwide including the Philadelphia, New Jersey Symphony, New Haven Symphony, BBC Concert (UK), Seoul Philharmonic (Korea), Pan Asia Symphony (Hong Kong), and Hannover Chamber (Germany) orchestras. She has appeared in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, Kimmel Center Verizon Hall, the Kravis Center, Salzburg’s Mirabel Schloss, St. John’s Smith Square and Wigmore Hall in London. At the invitation of Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, she performed at the U.N. Headquarters in both Geneva and New York and served as a cultural representative for Korea in Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan through concerts and outreach engagements. A passionate chamber musician, Kim has appeared in notable chamber music festivals including Marlboro, Ravinia, Four Seasons, Music from Angel Fire, Music@Menlo, Taos School of Music, Seoul Spring, Bridgehampton, Music in the Vineyards chamber music festivals and Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music in England. A dedicated teacher for the next generation of musicians, Kim is frequently presented in master classes throughout the US and invited as a jury member in notable international and national competitions. Kim’s debut CD, From the Homeland with pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute featuring works by Debussy, Smetana, Sibelius, and Janacek (CAG Records), has been described by American Record Guide as “…superb - warm, polished, expressive…”

Born in Seoul, Korea, Hye-Jin Kim entered the Curtis Institute of Music at age 14 and earned her master’s degree at the New England Conservatory. Kim is Associate Professor of Violin at East Carolina University and a member of the Cooperstown Quartet. Kim is the founder and artistic director of Lullaby Dreams, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that brings beauty and humanity to the hospital experience of babies, families and medical staff in NICUs and children’s hospitals through music.

2023-24 Concerts

Hye-Jin Kim, ViolinPhoto by Kristen Jensen
September 30, 2023 Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival: Autumn Soiree
Works by Dvorak, Bach, Handel-Halvorsen
Rieko Aizawa, piano; Jesse Mills, violin; Ara Gregorian, viola; Marcy Rosen, cello
Greenville, NC
October 13, 2023 Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival and East Carolina University
Next Generation Project
Chamber music and chamber orchestra works by Bartok, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Nielsen, Shostakovich
A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall
Greenville, NC
October 15, 2023 Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival and East Carolina University
Next Generation Project
Chamber music and chamber orchestra works by Bartok, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Nielsen, Shostakovich
Hayes Barton United Methodist Church
Raleigh, NC
November 12, 2023 Philadelphia Chamber Music Society
Works for piano trio and flute quartet by Mozart and Haydn
Marina Piccinini, flute; Peter Stumpf, cello; Cynthia Raim, piano
American Philosophical Society
Philadelphia, PA
November 17, 2023 Brooklyn Chamber Music Society
Works for string quartet by Dvorak, Haydn and Shostakovich
Carmit Zori, violin; Ayane Kozasa, viola; Peter Stumpf, cello
First Unitarian Church
Brooklyn, NY
February 4, 2024 Duke University
Franz Schubert Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 100 D. 929
Minji Kim, cello; Ieva Jokubaviciute, piano
Baldwin Auditorium
Durham, NC
February 9, 2024 Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival: Behind the Scenes with Mozart & Mendelssohn
Works for string quartet by Mendelssohn and Mozart
Cooperstown Quartet
A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall
Greenville, NC
February 11, 2024 Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival: Behind the Scenes with Mozart & Mendelssohn
Works for string quartet by Mendelssohn and Mozart
Cooperstown Quartet
Hayes Barton United Methodist Church
Raleigh, NC
February 18, 2024 Amadeus Concerts
Works for string quartet by Mendelssohn and Mozart
Cooperstown Quartet
Great Falls Grange
Great Falls, VA
March 8, 2024 St. Matthew’s Music Guild
Gian Carlo Menotti Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
The Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthews
Dwayne S. Milburn, Conductor
St. Matthews’ Church
Pacific Palisades, CA
March 25 - April 2, 2024 Dalhousie University
Chamber Music Residency and Concert
Joseph Strug Concert Hall, Dalhousie University
Nova Scotia, Canada
April 26, 2024 Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival: The Brilliance of Five
Works for viola quintet by Brahms, Dvorak and Mendelssohn
Xiao-Dong Wang, violin; Ara Gregorian, viola; Yura Lee, viola; Raman Ramakrishnan, cello
A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall
Greenville, NC
May 25 - June 2, 2024 Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival: Spring Workshop Greenville, NC
June 9, 2024 Close Encounters with Music: Great Quintets
Works for piano quintet by Brahms and Dvorak
Max Levinson, piano; Ara Gregorian, violin; Jordan Bak, viola; Yehuda Hanani, cello
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
Great Barrington, MA
 

…the most pure and beautiful sound I have heard on a violin.
—Jaime Laredo

Press


“…heart-stopping and unrivaled beauty… This was supremely musical playing, well thought out, yet of the moment.”

Helsinki Daily
“Simply put, the best performances of Bach and Mozart… Her Bach was absolutely sublime.”


“…pinpoint accuracy, impressively drilled runs and a generous dash of communicative dazzle.”


“Renowned violinist and mother shares beautiful music with children’s hospital”

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Media

From The Homeland/Hye-Jin Kim, Violin

Miss Kim’s playing is superb – warm, polished, expressive – supported and amplified by the pianist’s sensitive accompaniment. The recorded sound is spacious and balanced. With the musical and technical side buttoned up, the frosting on the cake is the program: except for the Debussy, all music that one doesn’t hear often.

collaboration

Cooperstown Quartet

Cooperstown Quartet

The Cooperstown Quartet brings together four of the chamber music world’s most exciting and experienced performers. Its members – violinists Ara Gregorian and Hye-Jin Kim, violist Maria Lambros and cellist Michael Kannen – are former members of some of this country’s most respected ensembles: the Brentano, Daedalus, Meliora, Mendelssohn and Ridge string quartets as well as the string sextet, Concertante. From this wealth of experience comes a brilliant new string quartet.

These musicians have performed in the world’s most prestigious venues including New York’s Carnegie and Alice Tully halls, London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Vienna’s Konzerthaus; won international competitions including the Yehudi Menuhin International and Concert Artists Guild International competitions; performed throughout Asia, Australia, Europe and North America; and are veterans of the Four Seasons, Marlboro, Santa Fe, Ravinia, Yellow Barn, Chamber Music Northwest and Prussia Cove chamber music festivals. In addition to their extensive music-making careers, they are all dedicated teachers, with appointments at the Peabody Conservatory and East Carolina University. In short, four consummate musicians come together to form one dynamic string quartet.
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Lullaby Dreams

An initiative bringing beauty and humanity to the hospital experience for infants, children, parents and medical staff through music

Master Class

Shortly after giving birth to my son in 2017, I had the unique opportunity to tour the James and Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital at Vidant Medical Center (now ECU Health) in Greenville, NC. During my visit to the NICU, I was struck by the near silence, interrupted only by the mechanical sounds of the monitors in the unit. This moment made a powerful and lasting impression on me and inspired me to envision how music could transform the stark silence of the space and bring comfort and beauty to the infants, families and staff. I deeply believe that hearing beautiful music at this young age can enhance the little ones’ long term neurological and emotional health, and that music can bring comfort and peace in the hardest of times, and that it is healing for every one of us- small and big, young and old. Lullaby Dreams was born out of this belief. I’m excited to bring music to every reachable ear through two current initiatives of Lullaby Dreams- Lullaby Stroll and Musical Story Time. 

Go to Lullaby Dreams

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Publicity Photos

Click on any photo below to download a high resolution copy. Photographs by Kristen Jensen.