Multi-award winning German-Korean violinist Clara-Jumi Kang is an artist of supreme sophistication, impeccable refinement and poise. Winner of the Indianapolis International Violin Competition (2020), Seoul Violin Competition (2009) and the Sendai Violin Competition (2010), she has carved an international career performing with leading orchestras and conductors across Asia and Europe.
The 2021-22 season sees the release of her complete Beethoven Violin Sonata cycle on Accentus with pianist Sunwook Kim. She recorded the sonatas during lockdown in the Beethoven anniversary year as a personal homage to the composer after more than 15 years performing the Beethoven Violin Concerto, and the release will be accompanied by an extended recital tour in Korea.
Having made her concerto debut at the age of five with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Kang has performed with orchestras including the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Warsaw Philharmonic, Cologne Chamber Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Mariinsky Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra with conductors such as Gergiev, Bringuier, Fedoseyev, Boreyko, Poppen, Spivakov, Temirkanov, Kremer, Varga, Lü Jia, Chung, Holliger and Yamada.
In the USA she has performed with orchestras including the Atlanta, New Jersey, Indianapolis and Santa Fe Symphony Orchestras, whilst elsewhere engagements include the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, NCPA Beijing Orchestra, Macao Philharmonic, Taipei Symphony, KBS Symphony and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. She was selected as one of the top 100 “Most promising and influential people of Korea” in 2012 by major Korean newspaper Dong-A Times and was awarded the Daewon Music Award (2012) for her outstanding international achievements as well as Kumho Musician of the Year (2015).
Clara-Jumi Kang’s first solo album entitled “Modern Solo” (Decca) featured works including Schubert’s “Erlkönig” and Ysaÿe Sonatas, and was followed by Brahms and Schumann Violin Sonatas with Yeol-Eum Son (Decca 2016). A dedicated chamber musician, she is a member of the Spectrum Concerts series at the Berlin Philharmonie and a regular visitor to festivals across Asia and Europe with recent highlights including the Pyeongchang, Hong Kong, Ishikawa and Marvao Chamber Music Festivals.
Born in Germany to a musical family, Clara-Jumi Kang took up the violin at the age of three and a year later enrolled as the youngest ever student at the Mannheim Musikhochschule. She went on to study with Zakhar Bron at the Lübeck Musikhochschule and at the age of seven was awarded a full scholarship to the Julliard School to study with Dorothy Delay. She took her Bachelor and Masters degrees at the Korean National University of Arts under Nam-Yun Kim before completing her studies at the Munich Musikhochschule with Christoph Poppen.
Clara-Jumi Kang currently plays the 1708 “Ex-Strauss” Stradivarius, generously loaned to her by the Samsung Cultural Foundation Korea.
