Roman Kim
Violine
In 2010, Roman Kim released his first video project as a solo violinist. At the time, the 19-year-old transcribed Bach's Air from the 3rd Orchestral Suite, adapting all four voices of Bach's score onto a single violin. Instrumentally, this was a remarkable challenge; musically, it was a delight to listen to. The arrangement became a hit, attracting the attention and recognition of thousands of violinists and music lovers. Revolutionary? Groundbreaking? His collaboration with the music publisher "Bärenreiter" eventually brought him well-deserved recognition. Roman Kim’s arrangement of Bach’s Air was published as sheet music in April 2015. The demand was high, and the first edition sold out within a few months.
Roman Kim's music is romantic, melodic, and virtuosic. In his compositions, the artist explores the limitless world of his instrument, introducing many innovations to the violin's sound possibilities. His paraphrase "I Brindisi" on Verdi's themes (published on YouTube in 2013) further strengthened his reputation as a "disciple" of Paganini. In April 2017, Roman Kim’s "Three Romances" for violin and piano were published by "Bärenreiter." In April 2019, Bärenreiter published Kim’s brilliant transcription of Mozart's "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" for solo violin.
Roman Kim is a cosmopolitan by nature. Born in Kazakhstan to a family with Tatar, Belarusian, and Korean roots, Kim began studying the violin at the age of five. At eight, he was admitted to the class of the famous violin teacher Galina Turchaninova at the Moscow Central Music School. In 2004, he received a scholarship from the "Mstislav Rostropovich Foundation," and in 2008, he began his studies in Cologne with Prof. Viktor Tretyakov. In 2012, he won the International Violin Competition "Valsesia Musica."
Kim has performed in Italy, Germany, France, Hungary, Russia, the USA, China, South Korea, Romania, Switzerland, and Taiwan. He has appeared in venues such as the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, the Cologne Philharmonic, the Romanian Athenaeum, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Munich Herkulessaal, the Beijing Concert Hall, the Bari Teatro Petruzzelli, the Seoul Arts Center, the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest, and the Taipei National Concert Hall.
Roman Kim has played with orchestras such as the NDR Symphony Orchestra (under Aziz Shokhakimov), the Staatskapelle Halle (under Josep Caballé Domenech), the Aachen Symphony Orchestra (under Dirk Kaftan), the Orchestra del Teatro Petruzzelli (under Alpesh Chauhan), the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra (under Daejin Kim), and the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra (under Alexandre Bloch).
Currently, Roman Kim lives in Cologne, where he is studying composition at the music university. He plays a violin he designed himself. The instrument, named "Superior," was crafted in 2015 by the violin maker Alexander Hazin (Cologne).