Sue-mi Shin

Violinist Sue-mi Shin is an avid chamber musician, orchestral player, solo performer and educator in the Bay Area where she found home after completing her studies in the East Coast. The winner of the Henry Janiac Competition, she appeared as soloist with the Spartanburg Philharmonic, playing the Brahms violin concerto. She has given numerous solo and chamber music concerts in New York City, New Haven, CT, Columbia, SC; furthermore, various concert settings in Spain, France, and her native South Korea.

A chamber music lover, Sue-mi was a founding member of the Yule Piano Trio and Sonnet Ensemble, a conductor-less string orchestra for whom she served as an artistic director and leader for many seasons. Currently she plays with Shoreline Piano Trio and continues to grow passion in chamber music through regular appearances at Fortnightly Music Club and Stanford Hospital’s Bing concert series.

Currently Sue-mi is a member of Opera San Jose and Monterey Symphony, and regularly plays with Symphony San Jose among many others.

As a devoted educator, Sue-mi has served as a faculty member at Notre Dame de Namur University, Oikos University, and Shenandoah Performing Arts Summer Festival among others. She maintains her private teaching studio in Redwood City for young violinists and violists. Recently she joined the board of directors at KAMSA (Korean-American Music Supporters Association) to foster young talents in music and beyond.

Sue-mi holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music and a Master of Music degree from Yale University. She continued to study at the University of South Carolina in Columbia as a DMA student in performance and conducting. The influential teachers in her studies are Min Kim, Ariana Bronne, Syoko Aki, and Donald Portnoy. Also her chamber groups have been coached by renowned musicians from American String Quartet, Tokyo String Quartet, and Verdehr Trio. She also has performed for Charles Castleman and David Kim among many others in master classes.

Born in Korea, in the musical family, Sue-mi started piano at the early age of 4, was introduced to violin at 7, and since then her passion and focus has been on music throughout her life. Having trained at prestigious pre-college schools in Korea, she came to the United States to study with Arian Bronne at Manhattan School of Music. She holds a BM degree from Manhattan School of Music and a MM degree from Yale University in Violin Performance. She also attended the University of South Carolina in Columbia where she worked on DMA program and conducting.