SO YUN KIM

The Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. Chair

So Yun Kim began studying the violin at age four with her father, Chan Kim, also a violinist and conductor. Growing up in Syracuse, NY, her early studies were with Rafael Sobolevsky, violin professor at Syracuse University, and later with Andrew Zaplatynsky, concertmaster of the Syracuse Symphony.

Kim’s undergraduate studies were at the Eastman School of Music in the studio of Charles Castleman and visiting professor Camilla Wicks. There, she received her bachelor’s degree in music performance as well as earning a performer’s certificate. While at Eastman, Kim was a winner of the Dorothy Starling Scholarship Foundation Competition. At the University of Nevada, Reno, she continued her education as first violinist of the Nightingale String Quartet, graduate string quartet in residence at the university. She received a master’s degree in music performance in the studio of Phillip Ruder, former concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Upon graduation, she began working for the Naples Philharmonic and the next season joined the North Carolina Symphony, where she plays in the first violin section. Also a teacher, Kim is currently on faculty at the Eastern Music Festival and has a flourishing private studio. She has attended numerous music festivals including the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, ENCORE Chamber Music, New York String Orchestra Seminar, Heidelberg Opera Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.