Today we profile Somi Kim, the first of two Samling Artist pianists currently participating in our Samling Artist Programme week.
Born in South Korea, Somi began her piano studies aged 8. She moved to New Zealand in 1997, gaining a First Class Masters in Music from the University of Auckland in 2013. Earlier this year she graduated with a Master of Arts with Distinction from the Royal Academy of Music.
She was the winner of the 2014 Gerald Moore Award for Accompanists and is the recipient of the Vivian Langrish Memorial Trust Prize, Marjorie Thomas Accompanist Prize for art song and the Major van Someren-Godfrey Prize for Accompanists.
She recently made her debut with Chamber Music New Zealand, completing a 15-concert tour with Mimosa Ensemble.
Recent reviews of Somi’s playing have praised her for a ‘great performance of a great work, powerfully argued and animated with a breathtaking range of colour, tone and inflection…’ (The Times) and as ‘simply superb regarding commitment, musicianship and technical command’ (Classical Source). Future engagements include her debut at the Concertgebouw next March.
Samling’s public Masterclass and Concert takes place on Saturday 28 November, led by internationally-renowned soprano Joan Rodgers and pianist Malcolm Martineau, as well as David Gowland, Artistic Director of the Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Young Artists Programme, and Broadway theatre and opera director Tim Carroll. Tickets are available from Sage Gateshead’s website or by calling 0191 443 4661.