"…heart-stopping and unrivaled beauty… This was supremely musical playing, well thought out, yet of the moment."
Violinist Hye-Jin Kim is renowned for her musical sensitivity and deeply engaging performances that transport audiences beyond technical virtuosity. Her distinguished career as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician includes winning First Prize at the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition at age nineteen and the Concert Artists Guild International Competition.
Kim has performed as soloist with major orchestras worldwide, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, New Haven Symphony, BBC Concert Orchestra (UK), Seoul Philharmonic (Korea), Pan Asia Symphony (Hong Kong), and Hannover Chamber Orchestra (Germany). She has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, Kimmel Center Verizon Hall, the Kravis Center, Salzburg's Mirabel Schloss, and London's St. John's Smith Square and Wigmore Hall. At the invitation of Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, she served as a cultural representative through concerts and outreach engagements in Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, including performances at the U.N. Headquarters in Geneva and New York.
A passionate chamber musician, Kim has appeared at renowned festivals including Marlboro, Ravinia, Four Seasons, Music from Angel Fire, Music@Menlo, Taos School of Music, Seoul Spring, Bridgehampton, Music in the Vineyards, and Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music in England. Deeply committed to nurturing young talent, she frequently presents master classes throughout the United States and founded the Summer Chamber Music Institute at East Carolina University for gifted pre-college musicians. Her debut CD, “From the Homeland,” recorded with pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute, features works by Debussy, Smetana, Sibelius, and Janacek. American Record Guide praised the recording as "superb - warm, polished, expressive.”
Born in Seoul, Korea, Kim entered the Curtis Institute of Music at age 14 and completed her master's degree at the New England Conservatory. She currently serves as Associate Professor of Violin at East Carolina University and teaches at Taos School of Music as a member of the Cooperstown Quartet. Kim is the founder and artistic director of Lullaby Dreams, a non-profit organization bringing the healing power of music to babies, families, and medical staff in NICUs and children's hospitals.
September 27, 2024 |
Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival Four Seasons Plays Four Seasons Solo Violin – Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall |
Greenville, NC |
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September 28, 2024 |
Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival: Autumn Soiree Recital works by Ravel, Kreisler, arrangement by Heifetz |
Greenville, NC |
September 29, 2024 |
Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival Four Seasons Plays Four Seasons Solo Violin – Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires Hayes Barton United Methodist Church |
Raleigh, NC |
October 11, 2024 |
Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival and East Carolina University Next Generation Project Chamber music and chamber orchestra works by Bartok, Britten, Grieg, Mendelssohn, M. Wiancko A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall |
Greenville, NC |
October 13, 2024 |
Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival and East Carolina University Next Generation Project Chamber music and chamber orchestra works by Bartok, Britten, Grieg, Mendelssohn, M. Wiancko Steele Creek Presbyterian Church |
Charlotte, NC |
October 22, 2024 |
A Charles Ives Celebration Charles Ives: Sonata No. 4 for Violin and Piano Kwan Yi, piano A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall |
Greenville, NC |
November 4, 2024 |
First Monday at Jordan Hall Arnold Schoenberg: Verklarte Nacht, Op. 4 Miriam Fried, violin; Ara Gregorian, viola; Paul Biss, viola; Oliver Aldort, cello; Leland Ko, cello Jordan Hall at New England Conservatory |
Boston, MA |
December 1, 2024 |
Music For Food Birthing: Beginnings & Farewells Felix Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 87 Ayano Ninomiya, violin; Ara Gregorian, viola; Kim Kashkashian, viola; Marcy Rosen, cello Brown Hall at New England Conservatory |
Boston, MA |
January 26, 2025 |
Philadelphia Chamber Music Society All-Ravel Program Maurice Ravel: Sonata for Violin and Cello Piano Trio in A minor Peter Stumpf, cello; Cynthia Raim, piano American Philosophical Society |
Philadelphia, PA |
January 31, 2025 |
Salon de Piano at Too Many Notes Felix Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66 Michael Kannen, cello; HieYon Choi, piano |
Baltimore, MD |
February 14, 2025 |
Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival Behind the Scenes with the Cooperstown Quartet Works for string quartet by Mozart, Webern, Mendelssohn A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall |
Greenville, NC |
February 16, 2025 |
Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival Behind the Scenes with the Cooperstown Quartet Works for string quartet by Mozart, Webern, Mendelssohn Hayes Barton United Methodist Church |
Raleigh, NC |
February 21, 2025 |
Brooklyn Chamber Music Society Works for string quartet by Telemann, Haydn, Schumann Carmit Zori, violin; Sharon Wei, viola; Edward Arron, cello First Unitarian Church |
Brooklyn, NY |
April 12, 2025 |
East Carolina University Symphony Orchestra W.A. Mozart Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, K. 216 A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall |
Greenville, NC |
April 24- 27, 2025 |
Carolina Ballet Igor Stravinsky Violin Concerto (Choreography by George Balanchine) The Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle Alfred E. Sturgis, conductor Raleigh Memorial Auditorium |
Raleigh, NC |
May 24- June 1, 2025 |
Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival Spring Workshop |
Greenville, NC |
…the most pure and beautiful sound I have heard on a violin.
—Jaime Laredo
“…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”
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.
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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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.
Click on any photo below to download a high resolution copy. Photographs by Kristen Jensen.