Esme Arias-Kim

Esme, now 10 years old, started playing violin a little before she turned three. She is a student of Betty Haag and is a member of the Magical Strings of Youth with whom she has toured California (Walt Disney Concert Hall, Segerstrom Hall) and New York (Carnigie Hall). She has won First Place in the Confucius Competition, winner in the DePaul Competition and honorable mention in the Walgreens Competition, as well as prizes in the Sejong Competition. She has played in masterclasses for Vadim Gluzman and Grigory Kalinovsky. Recently, she made her solo debut with the Oistrakh Symphony of Chicago after winning the Depaul Concerto Festival for Young Performers in her category. This year Esme was the first prize winner of Enkor Competition. Later this year she will be performing the Mendelssohn violin concerto with the Northeastern Illinois University Orchestra as a winner in the Chicago Chamber Music Festival Concerto Competition.