Bomsori Kim, violin with Rafał Blechacz, piano

Friday, April 24, 2020 at 7:30 pm
Mike Lazaridis Theatre of Ideas – Perimeter Institute

Due to the evolving COVID-19 situation, Perimeter's April 24 concert with Bomsori Kim has been cancelled, and the Institute is closed to both staff and visitors until further notice.

“You will be calling for encores yourself after this superb and youthful recital.” - AllMusic, February 2019)

“The solo violin — here played with fierce dramatic commitment by Bomsori Kim — takes on a shamanistic role.” - New York Times, February 2019

Programme:

Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Major, op. 12
Gabriel Fauré: Violin Sonata No. 1 A Major, op. 13
Claude Debussy: Violin Sonata G Minor, L. 140
Karol Szymanowski: Violin Sonata D Minor, op. 9

(The programme is subject to change.)


SINGLE TICKETS PRICES:

  • General - $88
  • Students with valid ID - $55

Seat selection is available for all concerts.


Biographies

Winner of the 62nd ARD International Music Competition, Bomsori Kim is internationally regarded as one of today’s most vibrant and exciting violinist.

She is a prize winner of a number of prestigious international violin competitions such as the Tchaikovsky International Competition, the Queen Elisabeth Competition, the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition, the Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition Hannover, the Montreal International Musical Competition and the  Sendai International Music Competition,

Bomsori received astonishing success at the 15th International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition, winning both Second Prize and Critic’s Prize, as well as nine additional special prizes.

In season 2018-2019, Bomsori will be "Artist-soloist–in-residence“ at Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra.

The residency will include concerts in Poznan, Berlin (Konzerthaus), Milan (Auditorio di Milano) and Prague (Smetana Hall). Bomsori will make her European Festival debuts at Dvorak Festival Prague (Rudolfinum), Lucerne Festival, Rheingau Festival, Heidelberger Frühling and Gstaad Festival.

Bomsori will also perform for the first time with Tonkunstler Orchestra Vienna and she will make her debut at  Suntory Hall Tokyo with Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra.

Bomsori will be also on tour in Europe, Asia and USA with Polish pianist Rafal Blechacz. North American highlights of the season include her debut performance with the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra and recital appearances at the Maestro Foundation and La Jolla Music Society’s Rising Star Series.

As a soloist, Bomsori has appeared at numerous venues worldwide, such as Musikverein Golden Hall in Vienna, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg, Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, the Herkulessaal and the Prinzregententheater in Munich, Berlin Philharmonic Chamber Hall, Rudolfinum and Smetana Hall in Prague, and Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall.

Bomsori has had the privilege of performing under the direction of multiple conductors, including Jaap van Zweden, Andrey Boreyko, Jacek Kaspszyk, Marin Alsop, Hannu Lintu,  Sakari Oramo, John Storgards, Yuri Simonov, Giancarlo Guerrero, Yoel Levi, Antonio Mendez, Lukasz Borowicz with numerous leading orchestras, such as Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, National Orchestra of Belgium, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie of Hannover, Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra, amongst others.

In 2017, Warner Classics released Bomsori’s debut album with maestro Jacek Kaspszyk and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring Wieniawski Violin Concerto No.2 and Shostakovich Violin Concerto No.1. Her second album with pianist Rafal Blechacz will be released in 2019 by Deutsche Grammophon.

A native of South Korea, Bomsori received a Bachelor’s degree at Seoul National University, where she studied with Young Uck Kim. She also earned her Master of Music Degree and Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School as a full-scholarship candidate and studied with Sylvia Rosenberg and Ronald Copes.

With the support of Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation, she currently plays on a 1774 violin by Joannes Baptista Guadagnini.

Rafał Blechacz is the 2014 winner of the prestigious Gilmore Artist Award, an award given every four years to a distinguished, extraordinary concert pianist regardless of age or nationality. He is recognized as his generation’s greatest performer of Chopin’s works. In October 2005, uncontested, Blechacz won all prizes of the prestigious 15th Frédéric Chopin International Piano Competition. The young Polish pianist has since then established himself firmly on the international concert scene and is celebrated by both the audience and the press worldwide for his profound and virtuosic interpretations.

Blechacz has performed with renowned orchestras such as London Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, NDR Hamburg, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Camerata Salzburg, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, Minnesota Orchestra, and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He gives recitals in the world’s major concert halls including Philharmonie Berlin, Prinzregententheater in Munich, Salle Pleyel in Paris, Wigmore Hall London, Queen’s Hall Edinburgh, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, La Scala Milan, Vienna Konzerthaus, and Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, as well as further afield in New York, Boston, Atlanta, Vancouver, Tokyo, Korea, and Taiwan.

Having returned to the stage after a year of sabbatical in 2016 to complete his Ph.D. thesis on the philosophy of music, highlights of Blechacz’s 2018-19 season include concerts with the hr-Sinfonieorchester and Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, as well as performances with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal on their European tour. He looks forward to his recitals in venues such as Town Hall Birmingham, Beethovenhaus Bonn, Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, as well as his celebrated return to Wigmore Hall London, Philharmonie Berlin, Konzerthaus Dortmund and Tonhalle Zurich.

Rafał Blechacz is an exclusive recording artist of Deutsche Grammophon. His debut CD of Chopin Preludes won Platinum Record status in his native Poland, as well as the German Echo Klassik and French Diaspason D’or awards. His CD of both Chopin concerti with the Concertgebouw Orchestra under the baton of Jerzy Semkow was awarded the “Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik”. In 2012, his recording of works by Debussy and Szymanowski was released and awarded “Recording of the Month” by Gramophone magazine, and “Solo Recording of the Year” by Echo Klassik. These were followed by the acclaimed release of his fifth album of Chopin Polonaises in 2013, and the most recent solo CD of works by J.S. Bach in 2017.

Born in 1985, Blechacz began his studies at age five, continuing his piano education at the Artur Rubinstein State School of Music in Bydgoszcz. In 2007, he graduated from the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, in the piano class of Professor Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń. In 2010, he received the Premio Internazionale Accademia Musicale Chigiana (Italy), awarded annually by an international jury of music critics to young musicians for their outstanding artistic achievements.