Minji Kim, a native of South Korea, is an active soloist and chamber musician who has performed across the United States, South Korea, Czech Republic, and Russia. Since she moved to the United States, she has performed in Michigan at venues such as Hill Auditorium, Detroit Steinway Gallery, The Alger House at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial, and the Downriver Council of the Arts. She has also appeared as a concerto soloist with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and has been invited to perform solo recitals at the Crystal Valley Concert Series in Middlebury, Indiana, as well as the Music for Meditation Series at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Elsewhere, she won first prizes in prestigious competitions such as the Chung-Ang University Competition, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra Competition, and was a finalist in both the 2021 Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition in Sewanee, Tennessee as well as the 2019 Beardsley Piano Prize Competition in Elkhart, Indiana. She joined the Fiorire Soloists in September 2019, which was created with the idea of offering more performance opportunities for young professional musicians.
As a passionate chamber musician, she is one of the founding members of CASM (Chamber Artists of Southeast Michigan) which has been actively performing since 2018. She recently participated in the UMMA Musical Label project with Clarinetist Elle Crowhurst, recording “Rhapsodos” by Abbie Betinis. The recording is embedded in a QR code next to an artwork presented in an exhibition “You Are Here” at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. She was featured in the Bloomfield Township Public Library Chamber Music Concert Series and in many duo/chamber recitals while at the University of Michigan.
In addition to chamber music, Minji is also an experienced collaborative pianist and accompanist. She has served on the collaborative piano faculty for Center Stage Strings through the MPulse Institute at the University of Michigan, where she rehearsed, coached, and performed with violin, viola, and cello students in lessons, masterclasses, studio classes, and recitals. She has also worked in a similar role as a pianist for the String Preparatory Academy. As a freelance collaborative pianist, she has worked with various wind and string students for their degree/non-degree recitals, recording sessions, competitions, and masterclasses at the University of Michigan and elsewhere. She has also worked as a choral accompanist with the Residential College Singers, the Ann Arbor Grail Singers, and the choirs of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.
Minji Kim has also attended multiple music festivals, including the Seoul National University International Piano Academy, CCM Prague International Piano Institute, and the White Nights International Piano Festival in Saint Petersburg, Russia. She was awarded a piano fellowship for the 2021 Sewanee Music Festival, which gave her the opportunity to teach secondary piano students, premiere new student compositions, participate in a career discussion panel, and perform in multiple chamber music recitals as well as with the festival orchestra, conducting seminar and percussion ensemble. In 2018, she was invited to the Gilmore Keyboard Festival, where she had the opportunity to perform a piece by Pavel Haas in a masterclass for Katherine Chi. She has also performed in masterclasses for Asaf Zohar, Mikhail Petukhov, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Dae-jin Kim, Ian Yungwook Yoo, Jong Hwa Park, and many others.
An enthusiastic educator, Minji Kim currently teaches group piano and private lessons at the University of Michigan as a Graduate Student Instructor. She also works as a Teaching Artist for the Michigan Artist Citizens/Our Own Thing Piano Program, which provides inclusive and culturally relevant arts instruction for primarily African-American students living in Ypsilanti, Michigan. She was a mentor for the “Sarang-Nanum Wecan” foundation, where she taught a student who has an intellectual and developmental disability. She also obtained a Secondary School 2nd Grade Teacher Qualification in General Music, issued by the Ministry of Education in South Korea which recognized her passion for teaching. Since 2010, she has had a private studio comprised of students of various ages and skill levels.
An avid researcher, Minji Kim gave a lecture recital on Steven Stucky’s Piano Sonata (2014) as a part of her Dissertation Recitals, exploring connections to the medieval technique of Isorhythmic Motets and the harmonic influence of Lutoslawski. She is also part of the research project UARTS Faculty Engineering/Arts Student Team (FEAST) “Korean Art Song: Making Gagok Accessible for English Speakers”. The purpose of the project is to build a database, making Korean art songs more accessible to English speakers with translations and phonetics available to aid singers in their study for performance. She is not only a member of the research team but also was a collaborative pianist for the project’s first concert, “Korean Art Song Recital at the University of Michigan Museum of Art” in September 2022, where she performed a variety of Korean Art Songs that are now in the newly published database.
Minji Kim graduated from Seoul National University with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History, ranking first in her Department. She then moved to the United States to attend the University of Michigan, where she received Master of Music degrees in both Piano Performance and Chamber Music Performance. She was awarded numerous scholarships including the Graduate Merit Scholarship, the Karen. A. Mayer Scholarship, and a scholarship from Tuesday Musicale of Detroit. Minji is currently a candidate for a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Michigan under the tutelage of Christopher Harding, as a full scholarship recipient. She is also pursuing a Certificate in Art Leadership and Entrepreneurship. Her previous teachers include Hie-Yon Choi and Hyungmin Lee.
Outside of music, Minji enjoys all kinds of cultural activities, especially reading, watching movies, traveling to new places, drinking great tea, and going to museums.