Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
INTERVIEW Tchaikovsky competition-winning violinist Kim Dong-hyun rises as classic music star of next generation
Violinist Kim Dong-hyun, 19, is one of rising classical music stars of Korea. Courtesy of Korean Symphony Orchestra
By Anna J. Park
By Anna J. Park
Violinist Kim Dong-hyun is one of the rising classical music stars of the next generation. Born in 1999, he is now only 19 years old, yet his colorful, subtle and dramatic violin-playing has grabbed the ears of fastidious music critics.
Earlier this year, Kim won 3rd place at the prestigious Tchaikovsky International Competition in Russia. This achievement is one of many prizes Kim has earned, including the 2nd prize at George Enescu International Violin Competition in 2016 and the 1st prize at the Seoul International Music Competition in 2018. He was also the first Korean performer who won first prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in 2015.
During a recent interview with The Korea Times, Kim talked about his next concert with the Korean Symphony Orchestra, his love and devotion for the violin and his hopes for the future.
“Currently, I am preparing for an upcoming concert with the Korean Symphony Orchestra, where I will be playing Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 4. I've been playing this piece for a long time on various occasions. It is one of the pieces I played in the final round at the Tchaikovsky International Competition in June. Whenever I play this piece, I learn something new, and it clearly reflects my playing just like a mirror,” Kim said.
On Sept. 8, Kim will perform Mozart's “Violin Concerto No.4 in D Major K. 218” with the Korean Symphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor Kim Yu-won at the Concert Hall of Seoul Arts Center.
The young maestro Kim is currently studying at the Curtis Institute of Music in the U.S. She won the top prize at the Astrid international Music Competition in Norway last year. Dubbed “Next Stage,” this Sunday's concert aims at introducing these two great musicians to Korean audiences. While violinist Kim presents Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 4, maestro Kim will lead the orchestra to perform Debussy's “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun,” and Beethoven's “Symphony No.2 in D Major.”
Violinist Kim started the violin at the age of six. He recounted that he didn't much like the instrument at first, but he said as time goes by, he unwittingly and gradually developed a deep affection with both the instrument and music.
“I think it was when I was 10 that I really began to take the violin more seriously. I started to increase my practice hours. As I could feel that my playing and my sound getting better, I began to like the instrument and music more and more,” Kim said.
“And a couple of years later, I realized the violin and I were inseparable. I couldn't explain myself without mentioning the instrument. It just felt like, I forgot to how to like something new other than the violin. I never doubted my path as a musician after that.”
Violinist Kim Dong-hyun will perform Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 4 with the Korean Symphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor Kim Yu-won on Sept. 8 at the Concert Hall, Seoul Arts Center. Courtesy of Korean Symphony Orchestra
He still practices many hours a day. He said he began to feel more responsible: “I love the violin and the music, but that doesn't mean I love practicing. Yet I do accept the daily effort as natural part of my routine, just like having regular meals or sleeping. I try to keep the balance. And I feel more responsibility about myself.”
Even at a young age, violinist Kim is mature and knows how to keep a balance. He said steady commitment to practice has been one of the ways he could overcome some difficult times.
“I had a rough year in 2017. Nothing went as I hoped or planned; I didn't realize then, but now I see that that was a slump for me. I couldn't even talk frankly about the matter with anyone. I felt very burdened and anxious. So I ended up practicing more, which helped me to overcome the slump. I didn't know what else to do. No matter how I thought in my head, I didn't have clear answers for my struggles. So I just decided to do what I could do at that time, and that was practice,” Kim recounted.
He also shared tips for successfully managing a huge amount of stress at rigorous music competitions.
“Everyone's getting stressed during competitions. You need to devise your own mechanism to deal with the stress. The Tchaikovsky International Competition earlier this year was the biggest competition I ever joined, but I had much less stress and burden. It was possible because I didn't try to win awards, instead focusing on performing the violin for live audiences and online viewers. As I just wanted to present my own performance, I felt less pressure, and as a result, I think it went well,” Kim said.
While he has a special fondness for violin concertos by Brahms, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Sibelius, he digests a much wider spectrum of repertoires from concertos to chamber music. Kim said the variety of music that the violin can pull off is one of the big charms of the instrument.
“I was attracted to the violin as it can create a wide range of sounds according to each performer's capabilities. Also the violin has many music scores for it, from concertos to smaller chamber music pieces,” he said.
He graduated from Yewon School and entered Korea National University of Arts in 2016 as a gifted student. He has studied with renowned professor Kim Nam-yun, and now has only one semester left. He said he will pursue a master's degree in Berlin, now one of the most vibrant cities among classical music artists, attracting so many world-class musicians to take root there. Korean music stars like pianists Cho Seong-jin and Sunwoo Ye-kwon and violinists Lim Ji-young and Lee Ji-yoon are currently living in the city.
“As my university life ends this year, I will prepare to apply to study for a master's degree in Berlin. I also want to be part of that musically vibrant atmosphere of the city,” he said. “I also want to be a versatile musician who can instill interest and curiosity among the audiences. I want them to be curious about what other colors and sounds I would play in my next performances. I also hope to be an easily approachable performer,” Kim said.
Kim currently plays on a “Joannes Baptista” Guadanini violin, dating back to 1763 in Parma, Italy. The instrument was leased to him by the Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation.