Sara Kim Joins Viola Faculty at Germany's University of the Arts Bremen

Kim will leave her position in Leipzig to take up the role at HfK Bremen

The University for the Arts Bremen (HfK Bremen) recently announced that South Korean violist Sara Kim will join its viola faculty, effective April 1, 2025. She will establish a new viola class and will also teach chamber music. Kim has previously lectured at music universities in Berlin, Munich, and Leipzig.

At HfK Bremen, Kim will join current viola faculty members Barbara Linke-Holicka and Nir Rom Nagy.

Born in 1988, Kim first studied as a violinist at the Gnessin Special School in Moscow, before transitioning to the viola at Berlin's Hanns Eisler School of Music. She continued her studies in the instrumental soloist program at the Berlin University of the Arts, where she studied with Hartmut Rohde and graduated with top honors.

For six years, Kim was principal violist in the Staatsorchester Braunschweig and followed this with the same position in the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. She has appeared as a guest principal with Deutsche Oper Berlin, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Niedersächsische Staatsorchester Hannover, Nuremberg Philharmonic, and Bielefeld Philharmonic.

As a soloist and chamber player, she has appeared at prestigious festivals, including the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and the Gstaad Menuhin Festival. In 2012, she performed at Bellevue Palace for German President Joachim Gauck, at the invitation of Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.