Violinist and violist Jiwon April Kim has received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School where she studied with Prof. Hyo Kang and Dr. I-Hao Lee. She has graduated from Stony Brook University where she received a doctorate degree studying under Emerson String Quartet, Jennifer Frautschi, and Nicholas Cords. An avid chamber musician and new music performer, Jiwon has appeared at venues including Carnegie Hall, Elbphilharmonie, Lincoln Center, Spectrum, and National Sawdust. Her world premiere performance of Roberto Sierra’s Duo Concertante for violin and viola as part of Summergarden series at the Museum of Modern Art in 2014 was reviewed by The New York Times and New York Classical Review as “high-energy” and “high quality.”

During her studies at Juilliard, Jiwon has been mentored by Andre Emelianoff, Lewis Kaplan, and Joseph Kalichstein among many others. As a member of Juilliard Orchestra, she has worked with celebrated conductors such as the late James DePreist, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Alan Gilbert, and Robert Spano. She also has participated in masterclasses by James Ehnes, Garth Knox, Tokyo String Quartet, Anner Bylsma, and Joseph Silverstein at international summer music festivals. Jiwon has performed at Lucerne Festival Academy, Toronto Summer Music Festival, and New Music for Strings Festival as principal violist. In the past seasons, she has been invited to Banff Chamber Music Residency and Starry Nights Chamber Music Series.

Jiwon has served on the violin and viola faculty of New York Music School and Concordia Conservatory. She has also served on the judge panel of Camerata Artists International Competition, Prima Volta Music Competition, and Stony Brook Pre-College Concerto Competition. Jiwon's current and former students have been accepted to Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, and Mannes Pre-College programs, and youth orchestra programs such as New York Youth Symphony, NJSO Youth Orchestra, Region & All-State Orchestras, Manhattan String Orchestra, Bergen Youth Orchestra, and Camerata Youth Orchestra. They also have won top prizes at international music competitions including Camerata Artists International, Rondo Young Artist, Little Mozarts, Crescendo International, International Grande, New York International, and VIVO International Music Competitions and have performed at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, DiMenna Center, Bruno Walter Auditorium, and Symphony Space.