Press Reviews

“Brahms's Violin Concerto in D major… showed that in fact the violinist So-Ock Kim was the highlight of the evening. In her sparkling silvery dress, she was a brilliant soloist with a wonderfully pure, floating sound, rich timbre and virtuosic perfection. Soloist and orchestra were in a harmonious musical balance. With what power of expression, sensitivity and ease So-Ock Kim took up the main themes, and her interplay with the orchestra was so effective it is hard to adequately describe, all of which meant that here was a great listening experience. The soloist drew from her instrument in the Adagio wonderful singing sounds full transparency and purity. The oboe, horn section,and the dark string and brass colours were all answered by So-Ock Kim like a recitative. Truly uplifting was the finale, whose folk inspired character generated powerful momentum. After the enthusiastic applause of the audience, the Korean played as an encore a late Romantic virtuoso piece, whose artistic and dazzling sound effects enthralled the audience, who did not allow her to escape."
Oberbayerisches Volksblatt , Brahms, RPO, Herrenchiemsee Festival.

“Any violinist who chooses a program of unaccompanied music for a New York debut must be not only a consummate player and musician, but also possess extraordinary courage and self-confidence. So-Ock Kim has all these qualities in abundance; this recital was one of the most remarkable in recent memory. Ms. Kim’s program featured some of the most difficult unaccompanied works in the literature…she performed these powerful, dramatic works (all in minor keys) triumphantly and without a hint of fatigue. She even had enough stamina for a brilliant encore: Francisco Tarrega’s “Recuerdo de la Alhambra.” In the Bartók, she not only handled the instrumental challenges – double stops, chords, jumps, harmonics – with ease and security; she gave each movement its own character and also brought out both the work’s baroque and folk elements with admirable feeling for the Hungarian idiom. The Ysaye Sonatas pay homage to their dedicatees by emulating their own styles: Jacques Thibaud in No.2, Fritz Kreisler in No.3, and Mathieu Crickboom in No 4. They exploit but also expand the technical and tonal resources of the violin, and demand the kind of virtuosity that combines reckless abandon with total control. Ms. Kim took all their hurdles in stride and displayed remarkable stylistic versatility… in perfect command of fingers and bow, flawless in intonation, pure and beautiful in sound.”
Carnegie Weill Recital Hall Debut, New York Concert Review

“As for the celebrated Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, I have personally earmarked it as my favourite concerto ever - its slow movement alone can justify that view. But at Wycombe we had a bonus in the presence of the Korean born violinist So-Ock Kim. To say she played divinely is no exaggeration. She produced a pure but firm tone, wallowing in the pyrotechnics required of her, and able determinedly to balance her volume both as the composer and her own instincts demanded..”
RPO Mendelssohn High Wycombe.

“..So-Ock Kim was the soloist (with the English Chamber Orchestra and Roy Goodman), and her performance a dazzling tour de force. Breathtaking in its virtuosity, and supremely beautiful throughout, her performance also created indelible memories of a gifted artist for whom no superlative would be too generous..Miss Kim encored with a sublime performance of the Bach “Air” from the third orchestral suite.”
Bermuda Festival, The Royal Gazette

“Following this was a sensational break from the fairytale theme as 26-year-old violinist So-Ock Kim took to the stage to perform Max Bruch's sensational Violin Concerto in G minor with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. The continuous applause from a very appreciative audience was enough to highlight both the admiration for this young performer and the technical demands of the work as So-Ock was brought back to the stage three times before performing an impressive encore.”
The Sentinel,Regent Theatre

“Bruch’s Violin Concerto has suffered somewhat through over-exposure, but Korean-Violinist So-Ock Kim gave an absolutely inspired performance which put the work back in its rightful place accompanied by the Philharmonia Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy”
The Herald, Plymouth Pavillions

“The star of the evening was violin virtuoso So-Ock Kim….she gave brilliant performances of Elgar and Vivaldi. It was a treat to her her brilliant playing once again. In fact, her contribution gave the concert a certain amount of substance…her pieces were certainly the high point of the evening”
Jersey Evening Post

“Une oeuvre de Rene Koering, Circles of Regrets, fait ensuite intervenir la clarinette (avec Michel Portal) et le violon magnifique de la jeune So-Ock kim”
L’Herault du jour, France

‘The audience was captivated by the majestic vibrations of the Stradivarius violin, delivered with a ravishing quality and exceptional sonority in the Ysaye Ballade by So-Ock Kim’
Midi-Libre, Montpelier

‘The Guildhall New Music Ensemble, performed A Deep But Dazzling Darkness, a violin concerto by James Macmillan…..dazzlingly played by So-Ock Kim’.
The Guardian MacMillan Weekend/Barbican

‘Finally, there was Brahms's Violin Concerto, played with complete responsiveness and beauty of line by So-Ock Kim, Seoul's wunderkind. After a first movement and slow movement of unerring artistry, she unbuttoned the gypsy high spirits of the finale with exhilarating aplomb.
Newsquest (Herald & Times), Queen’s Hall Edinburgh

‘At 22, So-Ock Kim brought a gracious presence to the stage, playing with light-fingered virtuosity and an intense passion’.
The Scotsman Queen’s Hall Edinburgh

'The soloist So-Ock Kim, who clearly likes this complex work [Brahms] with its passion and pent-up emotional energy, appeared to live every note which she played, in a performance which was simply spellbinding....this was a performance that will live in the memory as outstanding for many years to come'.
The Galloway Gazette, Queen’s Hall Edinburgh

‘Violinist So-Ock Kim’s lunchtime Wigmore recital on 14 October was a no-nonsense programme beginning with Beethoven’s G major Sonata Op.30 No.3. She brought to it (Saint-Saens Havaniase) a burnished tone and a rhythmic freedom that were highly seductive. Most impressive of all was her Elgar Sonata, in which she captured the bitter-sweet lyricism of the first movement, and brought a highly personal voice to the hushed torment of the second. Mindful of her duo partner too, she constantly drew in the piano, feeding from it and accompanying it sensitively where appropriate’.
The Strad, Wigmore Hall

‘...So-Ock presented flawless playing with beautiful intonation and bowing...Without a doubt her performance of Bartók’s Sonata No.1 was absolutely awesome – sheer technical brilliance in tandem with power and insight’.
The Strad, Wigmore Hall

Strong, expressive and full of energy ‘The South Korean violinist....was not only full of energy and technically flawless, but more importantly capable of such expressive and interpretative ability in a demanding programme. So-Ock Kim is the name of this wonder, presented by the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in their series ‘Die Junge Elite’...the 21 year old astonished the audience with her flawless playing and astounding musicality. It seems that for her, everything is possible....she drew the audience in with her playing, combining tender lyrical playing, songlike simplicity, along with a rich and dynamic flow, revealing every nuance of the music’.
Ostsee-Zeitung Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

‘Eighteen-year-old violinist So-Ock Kim gave a remarkably assured recital at Wigmore Hall, with a vibrant programme. Her big, broad tone sang out in the Brahms’ D minor Sonata and she showed fine sensitivity in the beautifully spun phrases of the Adagio...Kim scaled the incredible demands of Bartók’s solo Violin Sonata with apparent ease in a performance of mesmerising intensity’.
The Strad, Wigmore Hall

‘...remarkable violinist So-Ock Kim, still in her late teens....breathtaking virtuosity...she shaped a powerful performance....magic’
The Times, Purcell Room

‘So-Ock Kim....outstanding.What was so remarkable about Kim’s playing was not only her technical mastery, but also the tenderness and warmth she found...there was an unmistakable sense of a personal, emotional involvement with the music, revealing astonishing musical maturity’.
The Guardian, Purcell Room

‘The first concert on Monday by violinist So-Ock Kim set an awesome standard. She carried off three highly demanding pieces of very different character with an impressive command of technique, making Ferneyhough’s excruciating Intermedio alla cioaconna sound almost effortless, and discovering a vein of lyricism in Elliott Carter’s austere Riconoscenza’
The Independent

So-Ock Kim is 18 years old and knows no fear. She played Brian Ferneyhough’s Intermedio alla ciaconne as if it was an ecstatic cadenza she was improvising on the spot, spraying vertiginous glissandi and expansive flourishes in all directions. The range of colours at her disposal is dazzling....a genuine risk-taking performance’.
The Observer, PLG Series/Purcell Room