Gyehee Kim

Violinist/South Korea

FEATURED SOLOIST 2017

Gyehee Kim won First Prize and two additional special prizes at the prestigious 2016 George Enescu International Violin Competition, one of which was the iPalpiti Prize to attend the iPalpiti Festival.   The winner of the George Enescu International Music Competition, Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition, and Munetsugu Angel Violin Competition, Korean violinist Gyehee Kim has firmly established herself as one of the eminent young rising stars of the international concert stage. Among many honors, Gyehee is also a laureate of numerous other international competitions such as the Guadagnini Stuttgart International Violin Competition, the Isang Yun International Music Competition, Manhattan International Music Competition, Torún International Violin Competition, and the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians. Gyehee has been named as part of “the Rising Star Series” in 2018 by the Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation. As a frequent guest artist at music festivals worldwide, she has performed at the George Enescu Festival, Moscow Meets Friends, iPalpiti Festival, Mozarteum International Summer Academy, and Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music. Ms. Kim has been invited as a soloist to perform with the George Enescu Philharmonic, Russian Symphony, Stuttgart Philharmonic, iPalpiti Orchestra, Toruń Symphony, Central Aichi Symphony Orchestra, Korean Symphony, and the Korean Chamber Orchestra, Gyeonggi Philharmonic and among others. Recently, she gave the world premiere of Dan Dediu’s Brahmsodia Triple Concerto at the Opening Gala Concert of the 2020 George Enescu International Competition. She has given concerts in prestigious venues such as the Grand Kremlin Palace, Romanian Athenaeum, CKK Jordanki, Seoul Arts Center, and as a soloist with iPalpiti at Mozarteum Solitar Saal, Soka Performing Arts Center, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Ms. Kim has been a member of the contemporary and baroque music ensemble ‘Ensemble Blank’. From 2017-2020 she played the "Rainville" Antonio Stradivarius violin, loaned to her by the Nippon Violin. She is an alumni of Curtis Institute of Music, Seoul National University, and currently, is pursuing her Zertifkarstudium Meisterklasse’s degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich, Germany with Professors Christoph Poppen and Lena Neudauer as the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Scholarship holder. Since 2020, Ms. Kim is on the faculty of Seoul Central Conservatory as a visiting professor. This is Gyehee’s 2nd season with iPalpiti.

Jacopo Giacopuzzi

Pianist/Italy-USA

 As a soloist as chamber musician, Jacopo has performed at major festival and venues throughout the U.S. and Europe. He is a winner of 14 international competitions including the International Piano Competition San Dona` di Piave, Ibiza International Piano Competition, International Liszt Competition in Los Angeles, and the Beverly Hills National Auditions. Jacopo has taught at the Conservatory of Verona E.F. Dall’Abaco, worked as collaborative pianist at the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels, has been performing regularly in collaborative duos with international instrumentalists, and, most recently, formed Solo Due with pianist Konstantin Soukhovetski with a premiere at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center Protostar Series in the fall of 2021.  Born in Italy to a family of pianists, Jacopo studied in Weimar at the Liszt Hochschule, earned his first Master`s Degree in Piano performance, Master`s in Sound Design (with Mauro Graziani) at the Conservatory of Verona in 2012, obtained his Diploma at the International Piano Academy of Imola Incontri col Maestro with Leonid Margarius, and completed his studies in Piano Performance from University of Southern California (2016) with Kevin Fitz-Gerald. After attending the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Jacopo found himself embraced by this loving community and makes Santa Barbara his home, surfing at sunrise before heading to his piano. Verona is still his home as he continues his international career. His most recent musical engagements take him every year to Harmos Festival in Portugal, iPalpiti festival in Los Angeles, Pianofest in the Hamptons and at the Maui Chamber Music Festival in Hawaii. He  has  been  invited  to  serve  on  competition  juries  and  to  give  presentations, masterclasses and concerts throughout the world.  Jacopo was selected as an iPalpiti artist for the 2016 iPalpiti Festival of international laureates in Los Angeles and since, has been an active member as a musician as well as great web and graphic design staff.  He is also a talented photographer and film maker.