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Dr. Chaerin Kim, harpist, pianist, composer & professor

Festival 4 Arts

Introduction

A multi-instrumentalist and one of the very few people in the world who you can see performing as a soloist with two instruments on the same stage as an orchestra, internationally-acclaimed harpist, pianist, composer, and professor, Dr. Chaerin Kim is the winner of 12 national and international competitions in America, England, Russia, and Korea. She has been a judge 73 times at 35 international competitions in the US, UK, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Canada, Italy, Germany, Austria, Serbia, Hungary, Ukraine, Russia, Romania, Japan, and Australia. She plays 10 instruments: piano, harp, violin, viola, cello, harpsichord, accordion, guitar, ukulele, and drums.

In January 2024, she has been elected as an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in London (ARAM).

Judging criteria and tips for competitors, from this interview with Dr. Chaerin Kim, harpist, pianist, composer and jury member of the International String and Chamber Music Competition:

Studies

Dr. Kim’s musical studies began when she was six years old. She majored in piano at Yewon Music Middle School, while also beginning studies in cello and voice.

After Yewon, she went on to attend Kaywon High School of Arts, where she continued to major in piano.

Dr. Kim’s Education

In her last year, at the age of eighteen, she also started lessons on harp, and six months later won the Soloist Audition for Harp. She received her B.A. with Highest Honors from Ewha University in Seoul – then, while pursuing her master’s degree at Ewha, she was offered a scholarship for a Pg.D at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she graduated with distinction.

Chaerin Kim received her M.M. from Yale University. She was invited to the Artist’s Diploma program at Yale and Graduate Diploma Program at the New England Conservatory – however, she decided to pursue her doctorate at Boston University, where she was offered a full scholarship. She was the “quickest recipient of a Doctorate” in BU Music School’s history, completing it in three and a half years.

Awards & Prizes

She was the winner of the Special Prize of Best Performance of Russian Music at the International Harp Competition in Russia; winner of the Future Classic Women Award from the London Radio Station as a harpist and a composer; the CFA Award and Department Honor Award from Boston University; the Garrett Award, Foundation Award, and Julia Leney Harp Prize in London; a three-time winner of Soloist Competitions at Ewha University, Kaywon School for the Arts, and Boston University; the Bronze Medalist for Solo Piano at the Walgan Music Competition; and winner of the Grand Prize from the Korean Students Newspaper.

Awards and Prizes

Artistic activity of Chaerin Kim

She has been featured as a soloist on both harp and piano, some of her performances have included Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Debussy’s Danses for Harp, Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto with UMB Orchestra; Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Boston Chamber Orchestra; Ginastera’s Harp Concerto with BU Symphony Orchestra; Ginastera’s Harp Concerto with Seongnam Philharmonic; Guest Soloist of the International Music Festival broadcast live in Korea; Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro and Debussy’s Danses with Yonsei Sinfonietta; and Pierné’s Harp Concerto with EU Orchestra. Her harp performance has been used for the British movie Kaleidoscope, (main actor Toby Jones), which was the winner of Best Performance at the 2017 Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Compositions

As a composer, Chaerin Kim’s composition, Rendezvous, has 100 versions, including versions for orchestra, harp, piano, and voice, with lyrics written by her and translated into 80 different languages. The orchestral version of Rendezvous had its World Premiere in Boston, Massachusetts, and its Venezuela Premiere by National Philharmonic Orchestra of Venezuela.

To date, she has released 146 songs (7 Albums and 91 Singles), and her music has aired on the radio stations in US and UK. Most recently, she was nominated for and awarded a Future Classic Women Award through the London Radio Station, where she has been interviewed twice. She has also been interviewed by WCPE Radio in the US.

Activity as competitions’ judge

As a judge and jurist, Dr. Kim was the artistic director of the USA International Music Competition in 2010, and between 2021 and 2025, she is scheduled to judge 73 times at 35 international competitions for a multitude of categories, including harp, piano, all instruments, composition, and singers. She has also been the chair of harp judges at Global Musical Arts Competition in California.

International Competition Judging

Dr. Kim’s teaching activity

Dr. Chaerin Kim was the music faculty at Eastern Nazarene College, where she taught harp, piano, music theory, and music history classes. She was also the former Head of the Harp Department at Adagio Music Academy, South Shore Conservatory, and an artistic director of USA International Music Competition. Currently, she is an artist with the TTF Entertainment company in China, piano faculty at Shepherd’s Heart School of Music in Florida, and a music faculty of harp and piano at University of Massachusetts Boston, Schlossakademie in Germany, and through the Office of Arts at Harvard University.

Teaching Positions

Masterclass Speaker / Guest Faculty

Solo Performances with Orchestra

Solo Performances of Chaerin Kim

Music Festivals

Chaerin Kim was Principal Harpist Orchestral with

Conducting

Piano Accompanist

Voice

Compositions

Arrangements

Recordings

More information at:

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