Bumjun KIM

Biography

Born in December 1994 in South Korea, Bumjun KIM arrived in France at the age of seven months.
  He began playing the cello under the guidance of Paul Julien when he was six and later continued his studies with Xavier Gagnepain. When he turned fifteen, he was admitted to the CNSM in Paris - being the first applicant with an unanimous vote of the jury - where he studied with Philippe Mueller.
  The following year, Bumjun was invited by the Festival of Arcs to interpret Zoltán Kodály’s Sonata for unaccompanied cello live on Radio France Musique.
  He was also invited by the ambassador of the Republic of Korea in France for a concert in tribute to Jacques LANG, Ex-Cultural Minister of France.
  Thereafter, he shortly went to Leipzig to study with Peter Bruns, before doing a second Master degree with Troels Svane at the Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule Berlin and a Doctorate Diploma in Paris with Jérôme Pernoo.
  As a current member of the Herbert-von-Karajan-Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, he has the privilege of discovering the major symphonical repertoire with some of the most inspiring musicians and conductors of our time.
  Bumjun is actively performing as a chamber musician and as a soloist in Europe and Korea such as the Philharmonie and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Seoul Art Center, Victoria Hall of Geneva and Seiji Ozawa Hall in Tanglewood.
  In 2020, he has been invited to play for the German chancellor Angela Merkel during the award ceremony of the Henry A. Kissinger Prize in the American Academy of Berlin.
  During his musical life, Bumjun had the opportunity to learn from and get inspired by musicians such as Seiji Ozawa, Frans Helmerson, Arto Noras, Ivan Monighetti, Nobuko Imai, and is also regularly participating in festivals as the Seiji Ozawa Academy in Switzerland, the Folles journées de Nantes, Festival of Arcs in France, the Center of Chamber Music of Paris, the festival Printemps des Arts of Monte Carlo in Monaco and the Tongyeong International Music Festival in South Korea.
  Bumjun is cofounder and member of the Arnold String Trio and since 2016 laureate of the Banque Populaire, Adami, Safran and L’Or du Rhin foundations.