BIO

Praised by the Korean Southeast News for her “effortless, flowing passages, brilliant technique, and genuinely lyrical phrasing,” pianist Dr. Soo Kyung Kim performs as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. As a soloist, she has given numerous recitals and has appeared with orchestras including the Ludwig Symphony Orchestra, the New Atlanta Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gwinnett Choral Guild, and the University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra. As a collaborative pianist, she has worked with many distinguished instrumentalists and vocalists, including former Atlanta Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Helen Kim, violist Yang Yoon Kim, and Assistant Principal cellist of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, David Kim.

Her recent international honors include First Prize at the International Music Competition “Grand Prize Virtuoso” in Paris and the Golden Classical Music Awards, for which she has been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York as a prize laureate. She also received Third Prize in the “Music in the Romantic Period” category in the Piano Professional Artist Group at the 2025 American Virtuoso International Music Competition. Earlier in her career, she won First Prize at the Monthly Music Piano Competition, the Georgia Music Teachers Association Competition, and the University of Georgia Concerto Competition. She has also been invited to perform at the 17th and 23rd Benefit Concerts for the Korean American Scholarship Foundation.

Born and raised in Seoul, Korea, Dr. Kim studied at Yewon School and the prestigious Seoul Arts High School before earning her Bachelor of Music degree from Seoul National University. During her studies, she participated in the Salzburg Music Festival in Austria and was selected to perform in recital. She continued her studies at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where she received her Master of Music degree, and later earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the University of Georgia. Her teachers include Kyung Sook Lee, Young-Mee Yun, Jung Kyu Kim, Christopher Hinterhuber, Andrea Lucchesini, Jacob Maxin, Gabriel Chodos, and Evgeny Rivkin.

A dedicated and experienced teacher, Dr. Kim currently resides in St. Louis, where she serves as an adjunct piano faculty member at Webster University and as a staff accompanist for the Community Music School of Webster University Suzuki Program. Under her guidance, her students have won various competitions, including the Great Composers International Competition, and have received numerous prestigious scholarships.

Dr. Kim served on the Executive Board of the Piano Teachers Round Table of St. Louis and is an active member of the Missouri Music Teachers Association, the Music Teachers National Association, and the St. Louis Area Music Teachers Association. She continues to maintain an active performance schedule as a soloist and chamber musician and regularly adjudicates auditions and competitions in the St. Louis area.