Quentin Kim, professor of piano at Pusan National University, will present the next concert in Drake University’s 2018–2019 Keys to Excellence Piano Series on Monday, Feb. 11, at 7:30 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium. Admission is free. The performance will feature the following works:
Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 35 (Books 1 & 2)
Schubert: Sonata in A Major, D. 959
Kim will also present a free masterclass on Sunday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium, which is open to the public.
About the artist
Kim has been hailed by New York Concert Review as an “inspiring… thoughtful musician” through whom music sounds “completely new, modern in the best sense of the word, as if freshly created.”
The media reception of Kim’s solo albums (Blue Griffin Recording) has been enthusiastic: American Record Guide wrote that he performs with “warmth that is always engaging” and “extraordinary range of emotion and color” (on the debut album “Romantic Tales”), and Audiophile Audition called him an “interpreter of taste and imaginative fancy, one whose poetry remains just as capable of colossal but humane ferocity” (on the recent release “The Sonata Album”).
Kim has given recitals and other concerts at venues such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City, Bishopsgate Hall in London, and Esplanade in Singapore. He has performed with the Seoul Arts Center Festival Orchestra, Elgin Symphony, Buchon Philharmonic, Busan Symphony Orchestras, and New York Concert Artists Orchestra. Additionally, Kim has toured Central-South America and Europe as a member of Uptown Camerades and La Mer et L’Île, respectively. Other appearances have included the New Year’s Concert at Hoam Art Hall in Seoul and the International Music Festival and Dureraum Chamber Music Festival in Pusan, Korea.
Equally known as a composer of aestheticism and emotional sincerity, Kim’s works have been heard at the Kennedy Center, Berlin Philharmoniker Kammersaal, and The Concourse at Chatswood (Australia), among others. Deemed “refreshingly direct” and “worthy of repeated hearings” (American Record Guide), his music has won the favor of the public, musicians, and critics alike.
Kim has served as the Composer-in-Residence of the Korea Concert Society in Washington, D.C. and a member of jury for the Isang Yun International Piano Competition, JoongAng and DongA music competitions, Steinway Youth Competition, and Korea-China International Exchange Music Competition.
UniquePiece Records released Kim’s collaboration album with Bass Christopher Temporelli, “House of the Storyteller” and his composition album “Sehnsucht: Quentin Kim Solo Piano Works, vol. 1”, recorded by Pianist Nathan Carterette. Having received an Artist Diploma from Yale School of Music and a Doctorate from The Juilliard School, Kim is currently a Professor of Piano at Pusan National University.
Keys to Excellence Piano Series was created to raise awareness of Drake’s fundraising efforts for 70 new Yamaha pianos for the music department. It brings internationally acclaimed artists to perform on the Yamaha CFX concert grand at Drake University. The series is supported by Yamaha, West Music, Civic Music Association, and Drake University. For more information, contact Nicholas Roth at 515-321-5947 or nicholas.roth@drake.edu
KEYS TO EXCELLENCE PIANO SERIES 2018-19:
OCTOBER 8: Silvan Negrutiu– Millikin University
NOVEMBER 26: Nicholas Roth – Drake University
FEBRUARY 11: Quentin Kim – Pusan National University (South Korea)
MARCH 25: Thomas Rosenkranz – University of Missouri Kansas City
APRIL 29: James Giles – Northwestern University
All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium
and are free and open to the public.