Bio
Hailed by The New York Times as “a brilliant soloist” who “played with extraordinary precision and luminosity,” violinist Fabiola Kim is a dynamic and versatile artist whose diverse career encompasses solo performance, chamber music, recording, and pedagogy.
Her recordings have garnered international acclaim, including 1939 with the Munich Symphony and Kevin John Edusei, which received praise from BBC Music Magazine, The Strad, Gramophone, American Record Guide, and numerous other publications. Her most recent album, Paraphrases (2025), was selected as CD of the Day by Radio Klassik Vienna and received critical acclaim from American Record Guide.
Recent highlights include solo appearances with the Sofia Philharmonic and Amsterdam Sinfonia in Vienna’s Golden Hall of the Musikverein and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. Future engagements include concerto appearances with the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker and the North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the premiere of a violin concerto by Quinn Mason with the SMTD University Symphony Orchestra.
After beginning her studies at the age of four, she made her concerto debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra just three years later. Ms. Kim is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes, including first prizes in the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra Concerto Competition, Aspen Music Festival Violin Concerto Competition, and the Juilliard Concerto Competition. She was also awarded the Kumho Prodigy Music Award, presented to Korea’s most promising young musicians, and was a prize winner at the Corpus Christi International Competition and the Irving M. Klein International String Competition.
She has collaborated with conductors including Alan Gilbert, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gilbert Varga, Jane Glover, and Nicholas McGegan. Her solo engagements have included performances with the Seoul and Suwon Philharmonics; a European tour with the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra to the Bruckner Festival in Linz and the Merano Festival in Italy; the Juilliard Orchestra; Aspen Philharmonia; the Kangnam, Korean, Broward, and Prime Symphony Orchestras; the Livingston Symphony; Köln Chamber Orchestra; Orquesta Sinfónica OSUANL; Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV; Hofer Symphoniker; Berlin Symphoniker; Korean Chamber Orchestra; Westdeutsche Sinfonia; Munich Chamber Orchestra; and the Colburn Orchestra.
An avid chamber musician, she has performed with renowned artists including Lynn Harrell, Cho-Liang Lin, Paul Neubauer, Frans Helmerson, Marc Coppey, and Ida Kavafian, and has appeared at leading festivals including the Aspen Music Festival, Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Verbier Festival, and La Jolla Music Society SummerFest.
A devoted pedagogue, Ms. Kim is Associate Professor of Violin, with tenure, at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. She is Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Sounding Point Academy alongside Robert Lipsett. Ms. Kim earned her Artist Diploma at the Colburn School under the guidance of Robert Lipsett and her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the Juilliard School, where she studied with Sylvia Rosenberg and Ronald Copes.
