Dami Kim "Premio Paganini"

NEC Violinist Dami Kim Wins Top Prize in Premio Paganini Competition in Genoa

Also Wins Two Additional Prizes Including Best Performance of a Paganini Caprice

NEC violin student Dami Kim ’10, ’12 M.M. has won the top prize in the 2010 International Violin Competition Premio Paganini in Genoa, Italy. The 21-year old from Seoul, South Korea was awarded second prize of €10,000, and no first prize was conferred. Kim is a student of Miriam Fried, who won the same competition in 1968. Kim was also awarded named prizes including the Prize in memory of Mario Ruminelli (€1600) and the Prize in memory of Renato De Barbieri (€3000). The latter honors the best performance of a Paganini Caprice.

Open to musicians age 16—30, the International Violin Competition Premio Paganini was founded in 1954 with the goal of enhancing the prestige of the City of Genoa and discovering new, young talents. A biennial event, the Competition has established itself as one of the most important violin competitions in the world. Among famous artists who have won it are Gyorgy Pauk, Salvatore Accardo, Gidon Kremer, Fried, and, recently, Leonidas Kavakos, Ilya Gringolts and Sayaka Shoji.

Although the Competition remains under the aegis of the Municipality of Genoa, since 2008 the Teatro Carlo Felice Foundation has played a central role in its organization.

Dami Kim is the recipient of the John Jacob and Rose Seully Scholarship.

ABOUT NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY

Recognized nationally and internationally as a leader among music schools, New England Conservatory offers rigorous training in an intimate, nurturing community to 720 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral music students from around the world.  Its faculty of 225 boasts internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars.  Its alumni go on to fill orchestra chairs, concert hall stages, jazz clubs, recording studios, and arts management positions worldwide.  Nearly half of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is composed of NEC trained musicians and faculty.

The oldest independent school of music in the United States, NEC was founded in 1867 by Eben Tourjee. Its curriculum is remarkable for its wide range of styles and traditions.  On the college level, it features training in classical, jazz, Contemporary Improvisation, world and early music. Through its Preparatory School, School of Continuing Education, and Community Collaboration Programs, it provides training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, adults, and seniors.  Through its outreach projects, it allows young musicians to engage with non-traditional audiences in schools, hospitals, and nursing homes—thereby bringing pleasure to new listeners and enlarging the universe for classical music and jazz.

NEC presents more than 600 free concerts each year, many of them in Jordan Hall, its world-renowned, 106-year old, beautifully restored concert hall.  These programs range from solo recitals to chamber music to orchestral programs to jazz and opera scenes.  Every year, NEC’s opera studies department also presents two fully staged opera productions at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston.

NEC is co-founder and educational partner of From the Top, a weekly radio program that celebrates outstanding young classical musicians from the entire country. With its broadcast home in Jordan Hall, the show is now carried by National Public Radio and is heard on 250 stations throughout the United States.

Contact: Ellen Pfeifer
Public Relations Manager
New England Conservatory
290 Huntington Ave.
Boston, MA 02115
617-585-1143
Ellen.Pfeifer@necmusic.edu