On a rainy Friday afternoon an audience of music students and music enjoyers impatiently wait at the Main Recital Hall for an eclectic performance. Taking the stage is guest violinist Minju Kim, an assistant violin professor at Boston University School of Music, and pianist Jeong-eun Lee.
The hall’s dim spotlight illuminated the middle of the stage where a music sheet stood and a solitary piano stood. Nicole Cherry took the stage, thanked the audience for their attendance, and introduced Kim, recalling how they met in 2020.
As Cherry left the stage, applause welcomed Kim and Lee, who bowed at the audience and commenced their performance with Ludwig van Beethoven’s first Allegro con brio of“Sonata for Piano and Violin No. 3 in E flat Major, Op. 12.”
Lee shimmered through the keys as Kim played the lively and elegant piece with complete focus on the music sheet. She was careful and exact with her notes. Her impenetrable eyes and inscrutable countenance gave little away, yet her confidence playing as the song got faster said it all.
The Adagio of the piece came next, in which a more mellow piano initiated the song. Kim’s bow swam through the strings, smoothly playing each note with exact precision. The piece was reminiscent of a walk in the park on a spring day in the 17th century. One could not help but be immersed in the sound, as the piece had a sense of mystery that the audience was deeply intrigued by.
The audience was studying Kim and Lee’s every move. Both were calm and deeply focused on their instruments, with Lee slouching to see the notes perfectly and the music flowing through Kim.
At the Rondo: Allegro, the last movement of the piece, both performers felt every note with every fiber of their being. The piece intensified to the point that Kim had to move. Without an ounce of stress in her expression, she looked as if she was winning a battle against the music sheet and the violin, paralleling the image of taming a wild horse.
“I encourage [young violinists] to try as much as possible, and don’t be afraid to go out and seek the opportunity that you want.You want to find your calling. You don’t want to just follow the path everybody’s doing.” said Kim, who performed on international stages such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, as well as appearing on the Grammy-nominated album “Canto America.”
Kim enjoys teaching, saying her favorite part is “seeing the students improve, and I think it’s never boring, like you’re working with each person. It’s not just a group of people. Everything is different for each person. It’s not always like I try not to be the same with everyone, so I think that’s fun for me.”
As the quick intermission ceased with a round of applause, music sheets flipped, and Amy Beach’s piece “Romance” began. It was a sweet and melancholic piece, as demonstrated by Kim’s expression. She was having a pensive moment on stage, and the vibratos evoked awe in the audience, a technique that dominated the show. This piece was rewarded with applause, and Kim shared some words about the program, thanking the audience and saying that it would be a fun project for her to get familiar with the pieces and share them on stage.
Her joyous and calm demeanor changed dramatically into a serious and determined expression as intense vibratos overpowered Lili Boulanger’s solemn “Nocturne for Violin and Piano. ” There was a brief intermission as the piece ended, with audiences whispering about the performance.
“I’m at a loss for words, it’s so spectacular,” said Malachi Landin, a music performance major enjoying the performance with his violin case beside him.
Kim tuned her violin, and Lee adjusted her sleeves for the show’s last piece — Johannes Brahms’ “Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 108.” It was a beautiful interpretation, as both took turns playing while never taking their eyes off the music sheet. Kim waved through the strings, and the audience was intensely focused on the performance, not wanting it to end. The piece intensified, and one could see they are playing with such passion on each intricate note. The violin jumped through the tune with pizzicatos, making quick appearances.
Kim judged the music sheet. The deep sound of Lee’s piano added a dramatic yet playful tune. She furiously played through the piece and chased the notes as they ran away from the page.
“[The] performance was beautiful, it was so piercing,” Daniel Rocha, a first-year music performance major, stated.
The flawless performance left audiences dumbfounded. What an exciting ending to a show. Applause, hollering, and standing ovations rumbled through the hall, pleading for an encore. It was one of the most mellifluous performances of the semester, inspiring a young generation of musicians and music lovers at UTSA.
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