Grace Kim

 

 

Instrument: Violin

 

Studies:

University of Michigan

 

Biography:

 

Korean-American violinist Grace Ye-Eun Kim, started her violin studies in Yakima, Washington, at the age of 10, when her family immigrated from Daegu, South Korea, to the United States. When her family relocated to Philadelphia in 2006, she made her concert debut at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto after winning the Philadelphia All-City High School concerto competition.

While earning her undergraduate degree at the Pennsylvania State University, she toured Argentina with the Elan String Quartet, and she performed in prestigious halls with the Penn State orchestra including Carnegie Hall in New York City, Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts in Pittsburgh, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Grace earned a Master of Music degree in music in violin performance and chamber music at the University of Michigan, studying with Aaron Berofsky. She completed a post-master’s Specialist of Music degree in 2017 under David Halen, concertmaster of St. Louis Symphony at the University of Michigan, building her orchestral knowledge and experience.  She has had opportunities of performing with the St. Louis Symphony in addition to serving as assistant concertmaster with the Ann Arbor Symphony. Grace now serves as the assistant concertmaster with the Grand Rapids Symphony.   

In her summers, she has been a resident musician at the Medomak Conductors retreat since 2015, performing in chamber music concerts as well as serving as a concertmaster in the orchestra. She has been a member of the Spoleto Festival USA orchestra for three summers, where she has served as concertmaster and principal. Grace has given masterclasses at the Conservatoria Superio de Music in Villa Maria, Argentina, and at the Amalfi Coast Music Festival, in Italy, as a Young Artist Professional.

With a growing dedication to urban music teaching, she was an assistant teaching artist with the Sphinx Organization-Overture in the Detroit public elementary schools.

Grace plays on a Caressa & Francais of Paris violin dated 1906, generously on loan from the Virtu Foundation.