Noted by The New York Times for giving “the proceedings an invaluable central thread of integrity and stylishness,” violinist Ariana Kim made her New York recital debut at Carnegie’s Weill Hall during her doctoral studies at Juilliard and is now a tenured a professor at Cornell University.  At 16, Ariana made her debut with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and at 24 was appointed acting concertmaster of the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans; she has since become one of the most respected artists of her generation.

As a violinist of the Aizuri Quartet she was awarded the 2017 Osaka International Competition Grand Prize, the 2018 M-Prize, and a 2019 GRAMMY® nomination for the album Blueprinting.  During her tenure, the ensemble served as a Quartet-in-Residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and presented recitals at Suntory Hall Tokyo, the University of Toronto, Duke University, and the Kennedy Center, among others.  Equally devoted to contemporary and long-established literature, Ariana held a 10-year position with the New York new music ensemble Ne(x)tworks and is currently in her 19th season with The Knights; their 2016 recording …the ground beneath our feet… on which Ariana is a featured soloist alongside Guillaume Pirard in Steve Reich’s Duet, was chosen as NPR’s “Songs We Love” for the year.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ariana embarked on a social justice project with composer Steve Heitzeg and actor-narrators Lou and Sarah Bellamy to create a work shedding light on police violence and community building; the project culminated in a multi-media work for solo violin, spoken word, and video footage of the protests and street art that emerged during the demonstrations of 2020.

During 2016, Ariana lived and worked in northern Italy performing a series of recital tours, playing with Milano Classica, and presenting a Cornell Council for the Arts project working with a group of newly settled asylum-seekers of Cooperativa Selene to welcome them into their new life through the arts.  During her 2021 sabbatical year in South Korea, Ariana spent seven months studying the gayageum (an ancient zither-style instrument), performing throughout the country, and presenting master classes at Seoul National University.  She was appointed co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota and Paesaggi Musicali Toscani in Siena, Italy in 2019.  This past season, Ariana began a Carnegie Hall residency with The Knights, returned to Seoul for a recital with pianist Hyo-Jung Huh, presented the world premiere of Piyawat Louilapprasert’s violin concerto Tweeeeter  in Bangkok, Thailand, and gave a rare performance of Bartok’s Violin Concerto No. 1 at Jordan Hall in Boston.  In the summer of 2025, she looks forward to returning to her native Twin Cities serving as host for This Is Minnesota Orchestra, the ensemble’s live PBS and MPR broadcast. Her upcoming solo album – exploring improvisation through the lens of Mozart and Beethoven sonatas alongside world folk music – is set for release in the fall of 2025.

Ariana shares her time between New York City and Ithaca, NY where she resides with her Cornell biologist-husband, Jordan; they are currently living and working in India for 6 months while Ariana pursues her current sabbatical project studying Carnatic music with the Manjunath family in Mysuru, Karnataka.  In-between concert tours and teaching, Ariana can be found cooking yummy things, doing yoga, and climbing lots of rocks.

Violist Danny Kim joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the start of the 2016-2017 season and was appointed third chair of the viola section during the 2017-18 season. A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, Kim completed his undergraduate degree at University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied with Sally Chisholm and graduated with a B.A. in viola performance and a certificate in East Asian Studies. He earned his Master of Music in viola performance from the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Samuel Rhodes. Prior to winning a position with the Boston Symphony, Kim was a member of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect. An alumnus of the Tanglewood Music Center, where he won the Maurice Schwartz Prize, he has participated in such festivals as the Marlboro Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival, Lucerne, Aspen, and has toured with Musicians from Marlboro. As an avid chamber musician, he has performed with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Ensemble Connect, Chamber Music Society of Minnesota, Concordia Chamber Players, and has collaborated with artists including Joseph Silverstein, Peter Wiley, Arnold Steinhardt, Michael Tree, Marcy Rosen, Richard O’Neill among others. Kim is also a chamber music coach and teacher and serves on faculty at Boston University and the Northern Lights Chamber Music Institute in Minnesota. He previously completed a chamber music residency with El Sistema in Caracas, Venezuela. As a judge and jury member for music competitions and auditions, he has sat on panels with the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra and New England Conservatory. Committed to education and community engagement, Kim has performed on Sesame Street and participates in the BSO’s many community engagement performances and educational activities. He served as a tenured member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra while earning his undergraduate degree. Kim was also one of the first musicians to participate in the Boston Symphony-Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra musician exchange, joining the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, Germany during the 2018-19 season.