Matthew
Hamilton Kim, a veteran pianist despite his young
age, has performed throughout the United States, Europe and Asia for many
years to the unanimous marvel of his audiences. Matthew was born in New York
City to pianist Paul
Kim and soprano/writer Judith Jeon.
Like his father, Matthew has demonstrated significant talent in piano from
a very young age. Matthew's musical destiny was made clear at age two when
he would persistently climb onto his dad's lap (to "help") whenever the elder
Kim would be working at the keyboard. The natural progression to the structured
study of music led to his prodigious achievements in the field of performance.
Matthew's early musical gifts were also confirmed when he composed his earliest
pieces when he was only three.
In 1996, at age nine, Matthew performed in a historically unique father-and-son duo piano concert at Carnegie Hall. This event, which had been sold-out weeks in advance, was a benefit concert on behalf of worldwide orphan children's support programs. The huge success of that event led to subsequent performances in other major cities in the United States as well as a headline tour of Asia. In recent times, Matthew has contributed his performances to the historical opening of the joint session of the United States Congress in New York City and the 9/11 memorial concert in Central Park, both in September of 2002.
Following his father's muse, Matthew has also been performing Olivier Messiaen's music since age ten. In 2002 Matthew recorded Vision de l'Amen as part of a historic series of recordings of Messiaen's Complete Piano Works for the Centaur Records label. With this debut CD, and his related accomplishments, Matthew has achieved a triple record: 1) at age nine, the youngest pianist to perform Messiaen's music; 2) at age fifteen, the youngest artist to record Messiaen's music on a commercially-released CD; and 3) the first father-and-son piano duo to perform publicly and record Messiaen's music. The American Record Guide has recognized Matthew as "a prodigious young talent," and has upheld this album—and the complete Messiaen cycle—as "the new reference recording." His latest recording is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (within the complete Beethoven symphony series), based on the new critical performing edition for two-pianos written by Paul Kim.
Matthew's far-reaching and diverse musical talents also include composing, arranging, orchestrating, and flute and trumpet performance. A graduate of one of the most prestigious specialized high schools in the nation, Stuyvesant High School in New York City, Matthew has served as the music director and conductor for the stage productions SING! 2002 and 2004 as well as the Musical Theatre Guild's productions of Guys and Dolls and Bye Bye Birdie. At Stuyvesant Matthew was also the pianist and associate director of both the concert and chamber choruses. Through an invitation from The Composers Forum of New York University, Matthew performed a special concert at the Frederick Loewe Theatre.
Along with his brother
James and father Paul Kim, Matthew is a
member of the Paul
Kim & Sons Trio Pianists. Among the highlights of their past season was
a major concert tour of Asia, which was widely acclaimed. In
addition to concert performances throughout the United States, Canada and
Europe, they have also made numerous radio and television appearances including
CNN-Arirang
interview and an animated film documentary Joyous
Life: A Day in the Life of Paul Kim & Sons, Trio Pianists. Among the many
full-length newspaper and magazine articles
Matthew
has been featured in include The International Herald Tribune, New York Newsday,
Daily News, and Auditorium. As
an associate artist with the Music Angels International Foundation, Matthew
has contributed to a series of worldwide benefit performances, supporting
the mission to render humanitarian service, education, and social outreach
through music.
Parallel to his achievements in music, Matthew has also distinguished himself with an equally impressive record of academic and professional excellence. He was honored as a two-time recipient of the prestigious President's Education Award, presented by Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Matthew was also invited to participate in the National Student Leadership Conference and the People to People Future Leaders Summit, both held in Washington, D.C. A product of the gifted magnet program in the New York City public education system, Matthew is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School. During his undergraduate years at New York University Matthew served as a research assistant to Drs. J. Lawrence Aber and Joshua Brown in the Department of Applied Psychology, where he has contributed to a number of key government-sponsored research studies in child development and education. Through the auspices of the Presidential Honors Scholars program, Matthew was awarded a travel grant to Germany for his research, “When Tradition and Innovation Collide: A Religious and Textual Interpretation of Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” (presented at the 2007 Undergraduate Research Conference). His senior honors research, exploring the effects of poverty and school funding on academic achievement, was also featured at the Undergraduate Research Conference the following year. Matthew was elected into Phi Beta Kappa and graduated magna cum laude in 2008 with degrees in economics, psychology, and political science. He was subsequently appointed to the research staff at the social policy research organization MDRC in New York City. He is also preparing for doctoral studies in public policy. Matthew is very passionate about sports, especially football and ice hockey.
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