PAUL S. KIM

Pianist Paul Kim has led a distinguished international career for over three decades as a concert artist and music scholar of rare musical vision and integrity. His unique artistry has been noted for the engaging blend of exciting virtuosity, intellectual probity, and eloquent poetry. Paul Kim is hailed as a recitalist of distinction and as soloist with many of the world's premier orchestras including those of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, London, and Seoul. Audiences and critics alike have praised his charismatic interpretations of the music of Beethoven, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, the twentieth century American and French repertoire, and especially Olivier Messiaen.

Paul Kim is recognized internationally as one of the leading authorities on the music of Messiaen. Dr. Kim's performances, lectures and writings on Messiaen's music have earned him widespread recognition and acclaim throughout Europe, North America, and the Far East. The composer himself had remarked that Paul Kim is "an extraordinary pianist who expresses most vividly the rhythm of life and the dynamic colors of my music." Moreover, pianist Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen, the late composer's wife and the foremost interpreter of his music, described Paul Kim's performances as being "perfect in every way—technique, rhythm, color, sonority, emotion." In describing his aesthetic and spiritual qualities, The New York Times wrote "Paul Kim's clear and transparent playing was tinged with devotion and color." Paul Kim has completed an historical recording project devoted to the complete piano works of Messiaen. This first-ever complete recording cycle encompasses even the rarely-heard works such as the composer's own transcription of Les offrandes oubliées and the two-piano masterwork Visions de l'Amen (recorded with his young son Matthew). These Messiaen recordings, on seven CDs on the Centaur Records label, have been hailed as some of the most profound and influential performances, being upheld critically as the new "reference recordings." During the Messiaen centenary year 2008 Paul Kim is scheduled to perform many masterworks of Messiaen including the Turangalîla-symphonie, Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus, Visions de l'Amen, and Quatour pour le fin du temps. Paul Kim's new project is the recording of Beethoven's Nine Symphonies, transcription for piano. Parallel to these recordings is Kim's forthcoming publication of the new critical performing edition of the symphonies. The first volume in the series, the Ninth Symphony (two-piano version), was recorded with his son Matthew Kim.

With his wife, the soprano Judith Jeon, the husband and wife duo has performed widely in lieder recitals. Since 1995, the concerts that Paul Kim has given with his son Matthew have also received enthusiastic responses throughout the world. In recent years the father-and-son duo has further expanded to include the younger son, James, forming Paul Kim & Sons Trio Pianists. Beyond the musical ends, many of their special concerts were presented in support of various social and charitable causes. The goodwill efforts by the Kim Father-and-Sons with their music in the various parts of the world in special need have been recognized and appreciated by various relief organizations and international dignitaries including Presidents Bush and Clinton. A renaissance man of sorts, Paul Kim is also actively engaged in bringing music to the farther reaches of today's society. To that end, Paul Kim & Sons have also contributed their performances to benefit the Music Angels International Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization devoted to the development of today's young musicians in their public service in music outreach. A profile of Paul Kim's spiritual journey through his music has been featured in the seminal book Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Artist, written by the eminent Princeton University sociologist Robert Wuthnow. Paul Kim's life in music has also been the subject of several television documentaries including Nexus of East and West: Music in Today's International Culture (PBS), Music Inside the Creative World of Pianist Paul Kim (KBS-TV), and Joyous Life: A Day in the Life of Paul Kim & Sons, Trio Pianists (an animated film documentary).

Paul Kim began his early musical training in Southern California and continued his studies at New York's Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music, receiving his B.M. and M.M. degrees. Subsequently he went on to earn a Ph.D. from New York University. He has given master classes and lecture recitals at many of the world's leading universities and conservatories including Columbia, Oxford, NYU, Rutgers, and Manhattan School of Music. His other musical activities include conducting, chamber music, arranging and composition, music technology, and competition adjudication. Dr. Kim is currently a professor of music history and piano studies at C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University.

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