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The Korean-Canadian pianist, Jennifer Lim, started to play the piano before the age of 5, made her first public appearance one year later, and came into attention when she captured Grand Prize at the Korea Times National Music Competition at age 8. In 1993 she was a top prize winner at the Canadian Music Competition in Montreal as well as Johanna Hodges International Piano Competition in California. In 1994, she was accepted to study with Peter Serkin at the renowned Curtis Institute of Music on full scholarship as his only student: Upon graduation in 1998 she was awarded the coveted Rachmaninoff/Festorazzi Prize. She also completed her master's degree at The Juilliard School in New York in 2000 as a protégée of the legendary pianist Bella Davidovich. She has also studied privately with Anton Kuerti and Jane Coop since she was a teenager.
Jennifer Lim has been praised by The Financial Times, Germany for her 'stupendous finger technique in break-neck passages, and, in the slow movement, deeply penetrating substance'. Season 2008-2009 highlights include appearances with the Lima Symphony in their Opening Gala Concert performing Camille Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No 5, as well as her debut with the New Haven Symphony performing Sergei Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini. Recent highlights from season 2005-2006 through 2007-2008 seasons include subscription debut with the Mississippi Symphony (S. Rachmaninov's Concerto No. 3), engagement and reengagement with the Regina Symphony (Frédéric Chopin's Concerto No. 1 & Grieg), return engagements with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (Dmitri Shostakovich's Concerto No. 1), debut with Roanoke Symphony (J.S. Bach's Concerto in D minor) as well as her debut in Romania with the State Philharmonic Orchestra of Arad (F. Chopin's Concerto No. 1). She was featured in a 6-city Canadian recital tour on the Debut Atlantic Series which included live broadcasts for the CBC: For this tour the noted compo ser Christos Hatzis wrote a solo piano piece for Jennifer Lim entitled 'Through the Glass Darkly' which saw its world premiere in January of 2006.
Other recent credits include performances with the Columbus Symphony in GA (S. Rachmaninov's Concerto No. 2), EuroAsian Philharmonic at the National Theater in Seoul (Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1), McGill Chamber Orchestra in Montreal (J.S. Bach's Concerto in D minor), as well as recital engagements in Düsseldorf and Wuppertal, Germany, with broadcasts on Deutschlandfunk, as well as her debut and return engagements in Taiwan. In the past Jennifer Lim has also appeared as soloist with the CBC Orchestra, Puchon Philharmonic, Seoul National Symphony, Abbotsford Symphony (three consecutive seasons), Sinfonia Orchestra, at Merkin Hall (New York), Annenberg Theater (California), and Philadelphia Orchestra's Schubertfest (PA), with numerous international broadcasts to her credit.
Apart from her solo activities, Jennifer Lim is an avid chamber musician and has performed at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Festival Vancouver, Toronto's Mooredale concert series, Primrose Memorial concert series in Utah, Banff Festival in Alberta, Wolf Trap in Virginia, Orford Festival in Quebec, Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Symphony Space in New York, National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, and in Villecroze, France. In 2008-2009 season she also featured in a duo recital with the clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein in Chicago, and her duo CD with violist/violinist Nokuthula Ngwenyama will be released on the EDI label.
Both her European recital debut at Burghofspiele Eltville Festival in Germany followed by her New York Debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 2001 were met with critical acclaim. That same year her all-F. Chopin debut CD was released on Greenhouse/Schott label, receiving rave reviews from such notable European publications as Fono Forum (5 out of 5 stars), Audiophile, SCALA and Piano News: 'Far Eastern precision and American nonchalance make, in this magic of the black and white keyboard, a truly explosive combination... not for the faint-of-heart.' said Stereoplay. This CD was the subject of a Chopin Special on the Bayerischer Rundfunk, praising Jennifer Lim as 'the only young artist who can play Chopin... with the greats such as Argerich, Pogorelich, Michelangeli and Kapell'. Her second CD, released in 2003, featuring J.S. Bach's monumental Goldberg Variations (BWV 988) and Italian Concerto (BWV 971) on the Real Sound label in Italy also garnered critical acclaim: 'As a Bach pianist Jennifer Lim seems to be able to bend, clarify, and control polyphony to her will at any given tempo... She even gives speed demons like Alexis Weissenberg and Andrei Gavrilov a run for their money, investing the music's most virtuosic challenges with awesome lightness and specificity.' said ClassicsToday. Her third CD was recently released in Spring, 2008, on Greenhouse label again, featuring F. Chopin's Second Sonata as well as S. Rachmaninov's complete Etudes-Tableaux, Op. 33: This CD is also receiving rave reviews, including recent '5 out of 5 stars' from Remy Franck, one of Europe's most renowned critic, in the Pizzicato Magazine, Luxembourg. |
