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Soovin Kim captured first prize at the Niccoló Paganini International Violin Competition in 1996, becoming the first American in twenty-four years to win this prize. As a result, he was given the honor of playing a concert on "I1 Cannone," Paganini's rarely played del Gesu violin. One year later, he received the prestigious Henryk Szeryng Foundation Career Award, leading to performance and recording engagements across Europe. He was again honored in 1998 with the Avery Fisher Career Grant.
Mr. Kim now performs throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. He was invited to open the Caramoor Festival in 1998 with soprano June Anderson and the Orchestra of St. Luke's. That same year, he performed at Salle Pleyel in Paris with the historic Pasdeloup Orchestra in a special concert commemorating the 80th birthday of the late violinist Henryk Szeryng. He also made an extremely unusual eleven-concert tour of Italy performing the complete 24 Paganini Caprices to critical acclaim. As a recitalist, he has performed in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Terrace Theater at the Kennedy Center, Herbst Theater in San Francisco, and Casals Hall in Tokyo, as well as at Ravinia. He has also appeared with other orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Prague Chamber Orchestra. Last season, Mr. Kim made very successful debuts in Korea with the KBS Symphony Orchestra, at the Salzburg Festspielhaus with the Mozarteum Orchester, and in Italy with the Accademia di Santa Cecilia Symphony Orchestra conducted by Myung-Whun Chung. Recent and upcoming performances include engagements with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Florida Philharmonic, a tour with the Syracuse Symphony, and a re-engagement with the KBS Symphony Orchestra. He will also make his Korean recital debut at the Seoul Arts Center. He made his Carnegie Hall debut last Christmas Eve with Jaime Laredo conducting the New York String Seminar Orchestra. His first CD, lauded by critics and musicians alike, has been released by Koch-Discover, on which he performs duo works by Schubert, Bartok, and Strauss with pianist Jeremy Denk.
In addition to his activities as a soloist, Mr. Kim is in great demand as a most versatile chamber musician. He is a member of the Johannes Quartet and the string trio, "Divertimento." He regularly collaborates regularly with the great musicians of the world. He frequently participates in the Marlboro festival in Vermont, and tours the U.S. as part of the acclaimed "Musicians from Marlboro" program. He is a member of Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Society 2.
Born into a family without a single musician, Soovin asked for and was given the violin at the age of four. As a student, he had the opportunity to work with some of the finest pedagogues and artist-teachers, blending qualities from different violin traditions. When he was fifteen, he was invited to study with David Cerone and Donald Weilerstein at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he won the Joseph and Elsie Scharff Prize in Violin. He continued studies with Victor Danchenko and Jaime Laredo at the Curtis Institute of Music, from where he received his Bachelor of Music degree in 1999.
Soovin plays on a Joseph Guarneri del Gesu violin of 1735, the "ex-Sennhauser." It is generously made available to him by the Stradivari Society of Chicago.
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