About Michelle Kim

Los Angeles native violinist Michelle Kim is an active freelance violinist and teacher in the Los Angeles and surrounding areas. She has performed on the stages of Walt Disney Hall, Zipper Hall, LACMA Sunday’s Live!, Wallis Annenberg Center, Hotel Cafe, YouTube’s VidCon and more. Notable performances include a concerto performance as featured soloist with CSUN Philharmonic Orchestra of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante at the Soraya Center for the Performing Arts, and a Concertmaster performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, performed on the 1709 “Armand Von Vecsey” Stradivarius violin (on generous loan from Michael Ferril) at the Alex Theater. She has also shared the stage with Mike Patton at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival and with rock band Chicago as a part of San Francisco’s Magik*Magik Orchestra. 

Michelle was the Assistant Director for the Emerging Artists Program at the Mendocino Music Festival from 2014-2019 and was a member of the MMF Orchestra. Television credits include Netflix “When They See Us,” “Dear White People,” and ABC “For The People.” Musical Theater pit productions include Singing In The Rain, Carousel, Les Miserables, Evita, White Christmas and Elf. Summer festivals include Colorado College Summer Music Festival and Orvieto Musica Chamber Music Festival in Orvieto, Italy.

Michelle has maintained a private teaching studio for over 15 years in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Her students have been members of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra, Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, CSUN Youth Orchestra, Junior Chamber Music and her students have received the highest distinction mark for the ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) Exams. She has worked with the CSUN University Symphony, CSUN Youth Orchestra and Valley Youth Philharmonic Orchestra as a coach, and has served on the jury selection committee for the CSUN Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition. Her students perform in yearly recitals and study theory based on the Certificate of Merit Theory curriculum.

Michelle graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music receiving her Master of Music degree under the tutelage of Axel Strauss, where she was the recipient of the Paul L. and Phyllis Wattis Foundation Scholarship. Her earlier studies include Michael Ferril at California State University, Northridge on full scholarship and Muneko Otani, first violinist of the Cassatt String Quartet. Throughout her musical education, Michelle has been fortunate enough to receive guidance from eminent musicians and pedagogues including Sir Simon Rattle (Berlin Philharmonic), Eugene Drucker (Emerson String Quartet), Ian Swensen (SFCM), Roy Malan (SF Ballet), Bruce Dukov (Los Angeles Studio Concertmaster), Lewis Kaplan (The Juilliard School) and Mark Sokol (SFCM).

Performance on the 1709 "Armand Von Vecsey" Stradivarius violin for Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade at the Alex Theater