“I always stayed with Jack Richards. He was such an amazing patron of the arts.”
Born in Seoul, Kim immigrated to New Zealand with her family when she was 8.
She began formal piano training in New Zealand at a young age and went on to study under the respected Rae de Lisle, former Associate Professor and Head of Piano at the University of Auckland. Kim completed a Master of Solo Piano.
Deciding to broaden her horizons, she moved to London where she lived for seven years. She attended the Royal Academy of Music and added a Master of Collaborative Piano at the Royal Academy of Music to her resumé.
Highlights were playing a concert at the famous Wigmore Hall in London and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. She also performed at the Slovak Philharmonic concert hall in Bratislava Slovakia.
She loved her years in England but moved home when she got the job with NZ Trio in 2020.
The mother of a 9-month-old girl is becoming adept at juggling her many roles which include playing in the tango quintet Aotango, official pianist at PACANZ (Performing Arts Competitions Association of NZ) in Palmerston North and playing at the New Zealand Opera School in Whanganui.
Kim said she was looking forward to taking her daughter to the Opera School assignment in the new year.
NZTrio are keen to play music people might not have heard before.
Their programme features pieces from four female composers, starting with Fanny Mendelssohn’s Trio in D Minor, which Kim describes as “an absolute masterpiece”.
Kim said NZTrio were also committed to helping Aotearoa-based composers thrive by presenting “new and exciting works”, including a piece by up-and-coming Christchurch composer Eva Bedggood, who is currently based in Melbourne.
“Joan Tower’s Trio Caveny is an exhilarating piece. It’s just one movement but it’s like a whole symphony in 10 to 15 minutes,” Kim says.
The musical odyssey concludes with Ethel Smyth’s impassioned piano trio, a powerful and evocative composition that showcases the depth of emotions and creative brilliance of the British composer at the beginning of her career. Smyth was a key figure in the women’s suffrage movement.
“It’s really good to play works that are lesser known,” Kim says.
“It’s been great to have some time to really live with the music and see how it evolves with each concert.”
The tour, which started in October, has traversed the country - from Auckland to Arrowtown - and it finishes in Gisborne.
“We’ve all been busy with different activities in between so it feels great to be winding up the year with a programme we’ve really loved performing around the country.”
NZTrio Untamed Hope
Lawson Field Theatre
Sunday, December 15, 5pm
