Biography

Helena Hyesoo Kim is a Korean-Canadian pianist who enjoys connecting with communities through her performances, teaching, and outreach. Her performances have been acclaimed as “sensitive”, “charming,” and “noble.” At the age of eleven, she performed with the Poland Chamber Orchestra in South Korea. As an active performer, she has appeared in various venues to perform solo and chamber recitals in Russia, South Korea, Chile, Holland, Spain, France, Canada, and the United States. Kim has competed and been awarded in numerous national and international competitions, including the Vancouver Women’s Musical Society, the CCM Concerto Competition, the Robert Beardsley Piano Prize Competition, the Russian International Music Festival, and the Hanguk Ilbo and Eum-Yeon Competitions. 

Kim’s music education began at the age of five and continued in the Yewon Art School and at the Specialized Music School for Gifted Children of the Saint-Petersburg Conservatory, named after Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. She acquired a dual degree in Science (Physiology and Psychology) and Music (Piano Performance) from the University of British Columbia, a Master’s in Piano Performance at McGill University, an Artist Diploma at the Université de Montréal, and DMA at the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati.

Kim is passionate about discovering works by underrepresented composers. Her recent performances featured the works of female contemporary composers: Caroline KyungA Ahn, Alexina Louie, and Sofia Gubaidulina. Her DMA research focuses on piano sonatas by Galina Ustvolskaya who is often referred to as “a lady with hammers” who kept her idiosyncratic style despite the repression of the Soviet government. Kim presented her music at the Music Teachers National Association National and State Conferences and performed a lecture-recital at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy. Before coming to Cincinnati, she also played in contemporary ensembles at McGill University and UBC.  

Collaborating with different musicians and cultivating students is a significant part of her career. Kim worked as a collaborative pianist at the College-Conservatory of Music and Northern Kentucky University. She has taught piano students from diverse educational and demographic backgrounds at all age. 

In addition to teaching and performing activities, she builds artistic communities through concert series. She organized a benefit concert for the Canadian Cancer Society and worked at Music on Main, a contemporary and multicultural concert organization, as an intern for marketing and artist relations. Recently, she was a board member of Salon 21, a concert series in Cincinnati, and served as the CCM MTNA Event Coordinator now she is working at Frances Clark Center helping with websites and translating course contents into Korean.

Currently, she working as a Coordinator of Accompanying at the University of Akron.