Born in South Korea, Dr. Minju Kim has performed throughout North America, Central America and Europe. She earned her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music and her Doctor of Music from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Minju studied with renown pedagogues such as Paul Kantor, Grigory Kalinovsky, Mauricio Fuks, and Ik-Hwan Bae. She also had the opportunity to study with Alex Kerr, Nam-yun Kim, Henri Gronnier and Stanley Ritchie on baroque violin. At IU, she was a recipient of the Assistant Instructor Fellowship, Dean’s Scholarship and Artistic Excellence Award.
As a chamber musician, Kim regularly plays in music festivals nationally and internationally, most recently including Festival de Febrero, Festival del Lago, and Caroga Lake Festival. Her diverse interests have taken her to perform with various ensembles such as IU New Music Ensemble and the Jankovic Ensemble. With the Jankovic Ensemble, she taught masterclasses, commissioned new pieces, and performed at venues such as the Roundtop Institute and was broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today. Other festivals include Strings Music Festival, Britt Festival, Aspen Music Festival where she spent four summers on full scholarship, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music School and Festival, Banff Master Class, Orford Academy, and International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove. She has had the opportunity to work with eminent musicians such as Ronald Copes, Monica Huggett, Mark Kaplan, Soovin Kim, Gerhard Schulz, Andres Cardenes, and Roman Totenberg, and her chamber music mentors include the members of the Cleveland Quartet, Pacifica Quartet, and Cavani Quartet.
As an orchestral musician, she is the second violin principal of CityMusic Cleveland and has previously led as the concertmistress in the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, IU, and CIM Orchestra. She has also played with the Akron Symphony, Canton Symphony, Aspen, Britt Festival Orchestra, and at the Artosphere Arts Festival. With a minor in music education, Kim is passionate about teaching and making a positive impact in the community through music. She has taught at various institutes, workshops, and summer festivals, such as Encore Chamber Music, IU Summer String Academy, Community Music School at Oberlin College, Fairview Violin Project, Habitat4Music, and Chamber Music workshop at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also enjoys engaging in musical outreaches in her community and connecting with people through music, and performs frequently in her community as a member of Classical Revolution Cleveland. Kim continues to give masterclasses and recitals as a guest artist at various universities and institutions. Kim previously served as an Assistant Instructor at the Jacobs School of Music Indiana University, where she taught undergraduate and graduate students. Currently, she is on faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory Program and is the assistant professor of violin and viola as well as the chair of the string area at the University of Akron School of Music.
Kim is also a certified ELDOA (Étirements Longitudinaux avec Decoaptation OsteoArticulaire; Longitudinal Osteo-Articular Decoaptation of the Spine) trainer and is passionate about educating musicians about health, body awareness, and injury prevention. Away from music, she enjoys hiking, running, practicing yoga, healthy cooking, museums, movies, being in nature, and being a lifelong learner.