Arts Renaissance Tremont presents Jinjoo Cho, violin, and Hyunsoo Kim, piano

About the artists:

A charismatic soloist, dynamic chamber musician, dedicated teacher, artistic director, and published writer, South Korean violinist Jinjoo Cho is a versatile classical virtuoso of the 21st Century. 1st Prize Winner of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and Concours musical international de Montréal in addition to Buenos Aires, Schoenfeld, Stulberg Competitions, Jinjoo has toured on concert stages around the world since the age of 11.

Today, she continues to perform with leading orchestras such as The Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Deutsche Radio Philharmonic, Orquesta Clásica Santa Cecilia de Madrid, Ensemble Appassionato (France), Seoul Philharmonic, and North Carolina, Phoenix, Charlotte Symphonies while collaborating with prominent conductors such as James Gaffigan, JoAnn Falletta, Kent Nagano, Mathieu Herzog, Michael Stern, Tito Munoz, Michael Francis, Moritz Gnann, Karina Canellakis, Shi-Yeon Sung, Pietari Inkinen, and Clemens Schuldt at distinguished concert halls and festivals including the Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Herkulessaal (Munich), La Seine Musicale (Paris), Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), Banff Centre (Canada), Seoul Arts Center, Kumho Art Hall (Korea), Aspen Music Festival, Gilmore Festival, Music@Menlo, Perlman Music Program, La Jolla Music Society’s Summerfest (USA), Aigues-Vives Music Festival (France), Kronberg Academy, and Schwetzingen Festspiele (Germany). In 2021, Jinjoo formed Trio Seoul with pianist Kyu Yeon Kim and cellist Brannon Cho.

Jinjoo is currently an Assistant Professor of Violin at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University. Previously on the violin faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music and Oberlin Conservatory, Jinjoo’s dedication to nurturing the next generation of young musicians stems directly from the influence of her teachers Paul Kantor and Jaime Laredo. As the Founding Artistic Director of ENCORE Chamber Music Institute (501(c)(3) non-profit), Jinjoo presents its Music & Ideas Festival every summer, offering young string players an experience of true immersion as chamber musicians.

Most recently, Jinjoo has served on the jury panel of major international competitions. She was on the preliminary screening committee of the Concours musical international de Montréal (2018 & 2023) and International Violin Competition “Premio Paganini” (2023), as well as the Official Jury of the 2022 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Jinjoo is scheduled to jury the 2024 Schoenfeld International String Competition.

Jinjoo is deeply passionate about sharing her love for music, in whatever form that it takes. Her creative explorations range from commissioning new works by living composers Juri Seo and Andrew Rindfleisch to collaborating with artists of various other disciplines including choreographer/dancer Jinyeob Cha. A consummate recording artist, Jinjoo has produced 4 albums: Saint-Saëns (2021, Naïve Classique), La Capricieuse (2020, SONY Classical), The Indianapolis Commissions (2018, Azica), and Jinjoo Cho (2007, Analekta). Described as “a delectable curtain-raiser” (Strad Magazine) and “finest silk thread of a violin tone” (Rondo Magazine), the albums have garnered critical acclaim worldwide as well as commercial success. In 2021, Jinjoo’s first book, Would I Shine Someday, was listed as a best seller on major book platforms in Korea.

Pianist Hyunsoo Kim has performed extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, China, and South Korea.A sought-after collaborative artist, Kim has performed with eminent artists such as Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Miriam Fried, Dina Kuznetsova, Chantal Mathias, and members of the Cavani, Miami, and Pacifica string quartets; Cleveland Orchestra; Philadelphia Orchestra; Boston Symphony; and others. He recently joined Oberlin Conservatory’s collaborative piano team and has also been an official pianist for the Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition.

Concerts have brought him to such venues as Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, New York City’s Merkin Hall, the Chicago Cultural Center, Dallas City Performance Hall, Rolston Hall at Banff Centre, Shalin Liu Performance Center, Olin Hall at Bard College, Kumho Arts Hall, and Seoul Arts Center. He has performed in numerous chamber music series including La Jolla Music Society, Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, Chamber Music International in Dallas, Hudson Valley Chamber Circle, International Violin Competition of Indianapolis Laureate Series, Linton Chamber Music in Cincinnati, Brattleboro Music Center, and Rockport Music.

Kim has served as a collaborative pianist and vocal coach at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Kent State University. He was a studio pianist for Itzhak Perlman at the Perlman Music Program. He currently serves as on the collaborative piano faculty at the Texas Strings Camp and Festival, ENCORE Chamber Music, and he maintains an active performing schedule.

Kim earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Delaware, where he studied with Christine Delbeau. He went on to study collaborative piano with Anita Pontremoli and received both a master of music and artist diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music.