KATHERINE AUSTIN & HYEIN KIM IN CONCERT

Cellist, Hyein Kim
Hyein Kim was born in 1999 in Seoul, South Korea and moved to Christchurch in 2007. Hyein started his musical adventure at the age of 6 with lessons on the piano. At 8 he switched to studying the cello and he was given a scholarship to study at the Pettman Junior Academy with Edith Salzmann for 8 years. He has since moved to Hamilton in 2016 where he continued his studies with James Tennant and was accsepted into the Soloist Stream Specialization programme at the University of Waikato for 2017 - 2019. In 2023, Hyein was accepted to study in the soloist programme at Korea National University of Arts.
Hyein has had many successes in competitions including being the youngest semi-finalist of the NZ National Concerto Competition at the age of 11. At 13 he was awarded 1 st prize at the International Padova Competition in Italy and performed Saint-Saens Cello Concerto with the Padova Symphony Orchestra as a finalist. These results led to Hyein being invited back, and performing numerous concerts around Italy.
In 2017, Hyein had a very successful year, winning the New Zealand Secondary Chamber Music Competition wth his Yerevan Trio from Hillcrest High School, he was awarded the Most Promising Cellist prize at the inaugural Wallace International Cello competition as well as being selected as 2nd prize in the 50th National Concerto Competition and received a wonderful opportunity to play with the NZSO.
After that, he was awarded 2nd prize in PACANZ in 2018 and in 2020, he has been awarded 1st prize in the Gisborne International Music Competition and 2nd prize in 2021 National Concerto Competition. Recently, Hyein was awarded 1st prize in the Michael Hill National String Competition.   Pianist Katherine Austin Head of Piano Studies at the University of Waikato for 20 years, and now teaching at both the Universities of Auckland and Waikato, New Zealand pianist Katherine Austin performs regularly around NZ and overseas, touring frequently for Chamber Music New Zealand, and broadcasting regularly on Radio New Zealand Concert. A founding member of the Ogen Trio and the Kandinsky Ensemble, since 1995 Katherine has performed regularly with leading NZ/USA cellist James Tennant, as the Tennant-Austin Duo, throughout New Zealand and in Europe and the USA. Her work with the New Zealand Chamber Soloists now occupies a large portion of her performing and concert life, with (up to the end of 2019 when Covid struck) regular tours to Europe, UK, Asia, North and South America, and Australia, and invitations to give master-classes in such institutions as the Yong Siew Toh Academy of Music (Singapore), the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the Yehudi Menuhin School (UK), Interlochen Arts Academy (USA), the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), Monash University (Melbourne) and the Vicenza Conservatory of Music (Italy). Many works have been commissioned for the Kandinsky Ensemble, the Ogen Trio, the Tennant-Austin Duo and the NZ Chamber Soloists from New Zealand’s leading composers.
CDs include Corybas –the complete chamber works of John Psathas for piano with strings (3 of the 5 works were written for Katherine Austin and her various musical partners); Halo – for cello and piano by John Psathas (written for James Tennant and Katherine Austin after the release of Corybas) (single release); Ahi - with works by NZ composers Farr, Lodge, Williams, Griffiths and Psathas; and Elegy – moving elegiac piano trios by Rachmaninov, Babajanian and Shostakovich, which received international acclaim. Katherine Austin has also released 2 CDs on the Atoll label , one with great Russian Sonatas for Cello and Piano, the other “Diable Vert”, performing virtuoso and romantic  duo works, with international cello sensation Santiago Canon Valencia (silver medal winner of the Tchaikovsky International Cello Competition 2019), also to critical acclaim. Austin graduated Master of Music with First Class Honours in Piano Performance from Auckland University, where her teachers were Janetta McStay and Bryan Sayer. In 1982 she won both the NZ Young Performer of the Year (PACANZ) and the TVNZ/NZSO New Zealand Young Musician of the Year, playing Schumann’s Piano Concerto with the NZSO. Seven years of study and performance in London and Europe followed, included a full scholarship to the Royal College of Music London, to study with renowned Russian pianist and teacher Irina Zaritskaya, as well as postgraduate studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 1987, Austin won the Top Duo Prize in the Stresa International Chamber Music Competition in Italy, performing with cellist Vincenzo Giuliani.
Austin has performed Romantic piano concerto repertoire with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and has been guest on a number of occasions as concerto soloist with the Auckland Chamber Orchestra and Opus Orchestra, specialising in the concertos of Mozart and Beethoven. For 15 years she has been the coordinator behind the Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts’ successful ongoing concert series at the University of Waikato and the producer for the numerous University of Waikato Conservatorium of Music concerts in the central North Island, New Zealand. From their university piano studies, Katherine Austin’s students have excelled, winning scholarships to study in Germany, Vienna, London, and at the Australian National Academy of Music; “Most Promising Pianist” at the Kerikeri International Piano Competition; “Student Artist in Residence” at the Hindemith Foundation “Semaine de Piano” Summer Piano Festival in Blonnay, Switzerland; first place in the National Concerto Competition in Christchurch (2013); first place in the ROSL International Chamber Music Scholarship Competition (2010 and 2014) and finalists in the Wallace National Piano Competition (2016 and 2017) as well as winning numerous regional prizes. She has attracted a large class of Doctoral students currently studying for DMA with her.
Katherine Austin’s personal belief that music is a “living art” inspires all her performing and teaching.