Welcome to the JK Violin Studio website! We offer private instruction in violin and viola for students in elementary through high school age. Lessons are held in Bothell and Bellevue, WA. Remote lessons over the internet are also available to students located anywhere in the world. Students of the JK Violin Studio consistently attain high level musical achievements including Concertmaster in the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras, Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestras, Evergreen Philharmonic, soloist and concerto competition winners with the Seattle Symphony, Northwest Sinfonietta, Northwest Symphony, Evergreen Philharmonic, superior ratings at regional/state solo & ensemble contests, Seattle Young Artist Music Festival, Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside and acceptance to the WMEA All-State & All-Northwest Orchestras and the Seattle Conservatory of Music.
Former students of the JK Violin Studio have been accepted to the Juilliard School, Cleveland Institute of Music, Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, Dartmouth, Yale, MIT, Northwestern, McGill, Columbia, Princeton, Universities of Chicago, Pennsylvania and Washington among others.
Prospective students should e-mail one of the teachers to arrange an initial meeting. Be prepared to play a major and minor scale (2 or 3 octave) and an excerpt of a solo piece. The meeting will last about 30 minutes at no charge. Please click on the links below for more information about the JK Violin Studio teachers and contact information. Thank you for your interest in the JK Violin Studio!
John S. Kim, a native of Tacoma, WA, began his music studies at age eight on piano and a year later on violin. In the summer of 1986 he attended the ENCORE School for Strings near Cleveland, OH where he studied with Linda Cerone and David Russell. He returned the following summer and was subsequently offered a full scholarship to enter the Young Artist Program in the pre-college division at the Cleveland Institute of Music. After earning a Bachelor of Music degree studying with Victor Danchenko and Bernhard Goldschmidt, Principal 2nd Violin of the Cleveland Orchestra, Mr. Kim earned a Master of Music degree in the Orchestral Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music studying with New York Philharmonic Concertmaster, Glenn Dicterow.
Mr. Kim was a New York String Orchestra Seminar participant in 1991 under Alexander Schneider and Jaime Laredo in 1993 with performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Other achievements include concerts at Meyerhoff Hall in Baltimore, MD as Concertmaster of the National Orchestral Institute under James DePriest and Maximiano Valdez, top prize winner of the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle Competition, featured artist on KING FM "Live by George" and a performance at the White House for President Bill Clinton. He has toured cities in Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland and Italy with the North Carolina School of the Arts International Music Program and performed at the Seoul Performing Arts Center in Korea in the Seoul Festival Orchestra under Myung-Whun Chung. Mr. Kim has also participated at the Tanglewood and Spoleto festivals, the UW World Series at Meany Hall, collaborated in chamber music concerts with Richard Stolzman, Joseph Silverstein, members of the Philadelphia Orchestra for Ensemble M and appeared as soloist with numerous regional orchestras.
An active musician in the Pacific Northwest, Mr. Kim has been Concertmaster of the Bellevue Philharmonic, Northwest Sinfonietta, Associate Concertmaster of the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Principal Second Violin of the Tacoma Symphony and was also a member of the Seattle Symphony second violin section from 1998 - 2000. He has also performed on hundreds of motion picture soundtracks, television commercials, Playstation and Xbox video games and music videos.
A sought after teacher, Mr. Kim has coached orchestra, chamber music and conducted master classes at the Marrowstone Music Festival, Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra Music Camp, Evergreen Music Festival, Vivace Chamber Players chamber music camp, Garfield High School Orchestra program and has been the violin adjudicator for the Eastshore Solo & Ensemble Contest. He also served as the Director of the Seattle Conservatory of Music's Eastside Chamber Music Program, which he launched in 2006. Currently, Mr. Kim is on the coaching faculty for the Seattle Youth Symphony and Seattle Conservatory of Music and maintains a private teaching studio for violin and viola in Bellevue and Bothell, WA.
HyeKyung Seo, born in Seoul, Korea, was invited to study with Professor Lewis Kaplan at the Juilliard School at the age of 16. She was enrolled in the Pre-college division and continued her studies to earn Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. Her primary teachers include Nam-Yoon Kim, Lewis Kaplan and Joseph Fuchs.
Ms. Seo was an active soloist and chamber musician in Korea at young age. She also was the Concertmaster of the Seoul Junior Philharmonic Orchestra. She studied at the renowned Yaewon Middle School of Music & Arts and was studying at Seoul High School of Music & Arts when she won the grand prize at the Hankook Ilbo competition where she was granted to study abroad. Ms. Seo has performed as a soloist with the Korean National Symphony Orchestra at the age of 10, and has been a soloist with Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Junior Philharmonic Orchestra, Ars Chamber Orchestra among others and performed in numerous chamber music concerts. In 1995, she was invited to perform as a soloist with the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra at the Korea Orchestra Festival.
Ms. Seo has performed in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Concert Hall among others and has held the position of Concertmaster of the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall. She was also a featured soloist on WQXR's "Young Artists' Showcase. The New York Times described her playing as "remarkably refined". Ms. Seo was a member of the Jupiter Symphony of New York where she premiered Anton Kuerti's Concerto for Piano, Flute, Violin & Strings with pianist and composer, Mr. Kuerti and the Jupiter Symphony in 1995. She was also a member of the Sarasota Opera Orchestra, and performed at the Spoleto Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival, Mozarteum Music Festival in Austria and the Nice Music Festival in France.
Since moving to the Seattle area in 1998, Ms. Seo has been a member of the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, the Northwest Sinfonietta and a substitute member of the Seattle Symphony and the Pacific Northwest Ballet. She resides in Bothell, WA with her husband and three children where she teaches private lessons.
John Kim, violin / viola - Bothell, Bellevue & Online
e-mail: johnkim.violin@gmail.com
Hyekyung Seo, violin - Bothell & Online
e-mail: hkseo.violin@gmail.com