Famed Korean Violin Professor Nam Yun Kim Has Died

The highly-respected South Korean violinist and teacher passed away today, aged 74, following a long, chronic illness

A graduate of The Juilliard School, where she studied with Ivan Galamian and Felix Galimir, Nam Yun Kim was a former top prize winner at the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition. She went on to have an esteemed teaching career in South Korea as a longtime Professor of Violin at Seoul's Korea National University of Arts and the Korean National Institute for the Gifted in Arts and she served on the jury of multiple international violin competitions — including the Queen Elisabeth, Sibelius, Hannover and Tchaikovsky Competitions.

Throughout her long career, she was awarded numerous accolade for her services to music, including the prestigious Korean Eun-Kwan and Ok-Kwan Medals.

Seoul’s Yonhap News has today referred to Ms Nam Yun Kim as "The godmother of the Korean violin world for over 40 years."

 

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“Rest in peace, me dear friend and colleague,” Shlomo Mintz today said. “Nam Yun Kim and I studied together at Juilliard and I’ve known her for decades as one of the best professors and competition jurors in the world.”

“The history of the violin will forever be linked with her name," violinist Lucie Robert today said. "I will miss our discussions, her straight-to-the-point no nonsense remarks, her sense of humor, and her laughter.”

“You were the most important person in my life,” Kyung Sun Lee, violin faulty member at the Seoul National University and Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music today said. “You made your mark in history and you’ve been ill for a long time, but you’re still leaving us too soon.”

Nam Yun Kim's students included VC Artists SooBeen Lee, Inmo Yang, Ji Young Lim, Yoojin Jang, and Clara-Jumi Kang.

Our condolences are with her family, friends, colleagues and students.