This week is all about the alto clef: 18-year-old Bella Kim of Buffalo Grove is a viola player who has chosen a diverse recital of Johann Sebastian Bach, Béla Bartók, local composer Augusta Read Thomas, and the recently rediscovered 1939 Sonatine of Ulysses Kay. Beilin Han joins her on piano. Thanks to the Music Institute of Chicago for allowing WFMT to record in Nichols Concert Hall.
Bella Kim is a senior at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, and currently studies viola with Desirée Ruhstrat. Bella is the principal violist and merit scholarship recipient in the Midwest Young Artists Conservatory‘s symphony orchestra. She is a YoungArts winner, Walgreens National Concerto Competition winner, and has received honors from the CSO Crain-Maling competition, ENKOR Competition, and Society of American Musicians Competition. In 2019, Bella attended the Curtis Institute summerfest where she was principal under Maestro Paul Bryan and concerto competition finalist.
Her chamber groups have at been a Midwest National Chamber Music Competition overall winner, a Saint Paul String Quartet Competition finalist, and a Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition quarterfinalist. Every Tuesday, Bella volunteers to teach viola students in the Young Music Scholars program at Midwest Young Artists Conservatory to expand access to music education. Bella is also involved in music at her school, where she is a leader in Tri-M music honors society and Strings Board. When she isn’t playing viola, she enjoys creative writing, reading about biology, and sculpting.
Bella first appeared on Introductions as a member of Quartet Lucciola in July 2020.
Playlist
Ulysses Kay: Sonatine for viola and piano (1939)
Johann Sebastian Bach: Cello Suite No. 3 in C, BWV 1009:
I. Prelude
IV. Sarabande
Augusta Read Thomas: Incantation
Béla Bartók: Viola Concerto:
1st movement
Bella Kim, viola
Beilin Han, piano
Some music in the podcast is removed for copyright reasons.