Hometown: Seoul, South Korea 

Sumin Kim is a violist with extensive repertoire coverage, including solo, chamber music, and orchestra. Born in Seoul, she began playing string instruments with the violin at age eight and won several major competitions. Since 2021, she has expanded her musical reach to the viola and been mesmerized by its deep sounds, which led to her full devotion to the instrument. 

As a violist, she was invited to the Verbier Festival Academy, Kronberg Academy Masterclass, and Heifetz International Music Institute. She performed chamber music for WRTI 90.1 FM’s live radio broadcast and played in the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and Juilliard415 Period-Instrument Ensemble. She also participated in Music from Angel Fire as a Young Artist, performing chamber music with Aaron Boyd, Natasha Brofsky, Toby Appel, Tara Helen O’Connor, and Daniel Phillips. 

Sumin performed in a collaborative recital between Curtis and the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, where she played chamber music with Gary Hoffman. She worked with Daniel Matsukawa for Curtis Presents Curtis Composers and recorded David Ludwig’s Three Pictures from the Floating World for the school’s 100th anniversary album, A Century of New Sounds. 

She studied violin at the Curtis Institute of Music and viola at The Juilliard School, and is currently pursuing a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma at Curtis as an Edna Harkness Fellow. Major teachers included Aaron Rosand, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Steven Tenenbom, Hsin-Yun Huang, and Misha Amory.