EUNTAEK KIM

Hailed by The New York Times as, “nimble” and “colorful,” a South Korean pianist and conductor Euntaek Kim has emerged as one of the most promising talents of his generation. Mr. Kim began his piano lessons at the mere age of three and was admitted to the preparatory division of the Korean National University of Arts when he was nine years old. At twelve, he took his first conducting lesson and gave his first public piano recital in Seoul, presented by the Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation. A year later, Mr. Kim emigrated to the United States to begin piano studies at The Juilliard Pre-College Division.

A prizewinner of many international competitions, such as the 2001 Oberlin International Piano Competition and the 2002 International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Pianists, Mr. Kim has made appearances in Belgium, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, and the United States. Mr. Kim has participated in summer music festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival and School, Music Academy of the West, and Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival.

As a chamber musician, Mr. Kim has collaborated with members of the Enso, Escher, and Ying quartets. Mr. Kim’s collaboration with Eric Gratz, the concertmaster of the San Antonio Symphony, led to a successful release of a CD album in 2016. In 2017, Mr. Kim has been awarded a generous grant from The Center for Musical Excellence (www.cmemusic.org), a non-profit organization that provides individually-tailored assistance, financial support, and professional opportunities to gifted young musicians in the United States. It is through this grant that Mr. Kim’s debut solo album will be released in 2019.

An active promoter of contemporary music, Mr. Kim’s most recent collaborations include: his work in May 2018 with the Heartbeat Opera (www.heartbeatopera.org) and Cantata Profana (www.cantataprofana.com), based in New York City, in their modernized rendition of Beethoven’s Fidelio, praised by the New Yorker, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal; and tantalizing appearances in June 2018 at the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY, as a part of the world premiere of a new chamber opera The Rose Elf by the American composer David Hertzberg (www.davidhertzbergmusic.com).

Mr. Kim holds the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in piano performance from The Juilliard School, and the Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music. His instructors include Boris Berman and Jerome Lowenthal in piano, and Jeffrey Milarsky in orchestral conducting.

Euntaek has taught piano privately since 2007. He currently teaches at the New York Music School in Tenafly, NJ. Through his technically disciplined and entertainingly analytical ways of teaching, Euntaek guides his students in delving into the depth of human emotions, which, he believes, will not only allow them to make beautiful music but also enrich their lives.