ROCHESTER — The Rochester Chamber Music Society opens its 25th summer series on Saturday, June 8, at 4 p.m., with violinist Soovin Kim and pianist Gloria Chien.  Kim has a long association with the RCMS and first performed on the series in 1999.  Audiences were elated when he brought his newly formed Johannes Quartet as a regular fixture to the series.  The Saturday afternoon concert offers a rare opportunity to hear these masterful performers in an intimate chamber setting.  Programming will include works by Ravel, Copland and Szymanowski.
Violinist Kim is increasingly sought after for the character, nuance, and excitement of his performances as concerto soloist, chamber musician and recitalist, both in the U.S. and abroad. Particularly known for his breadth of repertoire, Kim typically takes on everything from Bach to Paganini to the big romantic concertos to new commissions within a single season.
He has performed in the U.S. with orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestra of St Luke’s, and the Baltimore, San Francisco; in Europe with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony, Prague Chamber, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, and Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestras; and in Asia with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and KBS Symphony. He has given solo recitals at Weill Hall in New York, Terrace Theater in Washington D.C., Ravinia, Tokyo’s Casals Hall, and the Seoul Arts Center. He maintains a close relationship with the Marlboro Music Festival and is the founding Artistic Director of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival. In 2014 he joined the faculty of the New England Conservatory. Kim won first prize in the 1996 Paganini International Competition and was also awarded the Henryk Szeryng Career Award, the Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.
Taiwanese-born pianist Chien has one of the most diverse musical lives as a noted performer, concert presenter, and educator.  She was selected by the Boston Globe as one of its Superior Pianists of the year, “who appears to exel in everything.”  She made her orchestral debut at the age of 16 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and performed again with the BSO.
In recent seasons Chien has performed as a recitalist and chamber musician at Alice Tully Hall, the Library of Congress, the Phillips Collection, among others.  A former member of CMS Two, she performs frequently with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.  In 2009 she launched String Theory, a chamber music series at Hunter Museum of American Art in downtown Chattanooga.  In 2017, she joined her husband, violinst Kim, as Co-Artisitc Director of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington.  Chien received her B.M., M.M., and D.MA. degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music. A Steinway Artist, she holds the position of artist-in-residence at Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn.