Cellist Kim Ga-eun Wins the Irving Klein String Competition in the U.S.

Cellist Kim Ga-eun. Photo by Bom Art Project

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Cellist Kim Gaeun (20) won first place at the 37th Irving Klein International String Competition.

According to the Irving Klein Competition Organizing Committee on the 7th, Kim Gaeun took first place in the finals held on the 5th in San Francisco, USA.

The Irving Klein International String Competition is a string competition for young violin, viola, cello, and double bass players aged 15 to 23. It was founded in 1985 by American cellist Irving Klein and is currently hosted by the California Music Center.

Kim Gaeun, who started playing the cello at age 4, first gained attention by winning first place and a special prize at the Janigro International Cello Competition held in Croatia in 2012 when she was 10 years old. She won the David Popper International Cello Competition in 2015 and was selected as the youngest finalist at the 16th Tchaikovsky International Competition in 2019.

Kim Gaeun is currently studying under Professor Richard Aaron at The Juilliard School. In Paris, France, she is studying with Gautier Capu?on. She has been selected as an artist by the Louis Vuitton Foundation and is active in that capacity.

This is the first time in 20 years that a Korean has won this competition since Kim Minji (currently a professor at Seoul National University) in 2002. Past winners include Moon Taeguk (3rd place in 2010) and Brennan Cho (4th place in 2013). Additionally, violinists Song Jiwon (3rd place in 2011), Lee Yujin (1st place in 2013), and Park Gyumin (3rd place in 2017) have also placed in the competition.

Meanwhile, Korean violinist Wi Jaewon took second place in this competition. Wi Jaewon won first place and the Audience Award in the violin category at the Washington International Competition held last month in Washington, DC, USA.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.