About
"Christina Jihee Nam, 14, from West Chester, Ohio began the evening with the Tchaikovsky performance. Confident in her technique and playing with consistently alluring tone, Nam breezed through the concerto and its many challenges with ease... Nam created special moments through her phrasing in the slow movement, and her finale was full of energy and forward motion."
-Daniel Hathaway, Clevelandclassical.com; July 25, 2017
“The stunningly talented Christina Nam brought the afternoon to a serene ending with her fierce commitment and emotionally charged interpretation of the Partita number 2, the longest in the duration of the three and one chockfull of every imaginable technical complexity, ending with the monumental Chaconne, a test of endurance for even the most mature of violinists, and one that Yehudi Menuhin called “the greatest structure for solo violin that exists…The end of the concert was first followed by awed silence and then by grateful applause for Nam…”
-Rafael de Acha, Rafael’s Music Notes, November 25, 2019
"Continuing Seven Hills Sinfonietta's longstanding tradition of introducing new talent, we will have the pleasure of performing Mozart's 3rd violin concerto with 10-year-old violinist Christina Nam, a perfect fit since the composer himself was also a child prodigy."
-Music Director William White; March 10, 2013
Since her solo debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Robert Trevino at age 9, virtuoso violinist Christina Nam has concertized around the world appearing in recitals and as soloist with numerous orchestras across the globe.
Recipient of many accolades both at international and national competitions, Ms. Nam received a top prize, as the youngest competitor at age 14, in the esteemed 2017 Cooper International Violin Competition where she appeared with Maestro Jahja Ling and the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. Other prizes include semi-finalists at the 8th Louis Spohr International Competition (2016) and at Johansen International Competition (2018), and top prizes and recognition from the Overture Awards, Louisville Orchestra Young Artists, Sejong Music, Clark J. Haines Memorial, Jack and Lucille Wonnell Young Artists, Lakeland Young Artists, Belew Young Artist, David L. Pierson Young Musicians Concerto Competition, Mary Lane Violin Competition, Frieda Schumacher Competition, Dayton Philharmonic Concerto Competition, Clifton Music Club, Cincinnati Symphony Club, and Matinée Musicale Scholarship Competitions. Ms. Nam was invited to participate in the Junior category of the prestigious Menuhin Competition 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland. During the competition, she was chosen as soloist with the Orchestre du Conservatoire de Musique de Genève under the baton of Maestro Antoine Marguier performing Saint-Saens Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso. Ms. Nam also had the honor to represent the USA at the Closing Gala Concert in the Bow Passing Ceremony for the next Menuhin Competition in Richmond Virginia in 2020. Ms. Nam was a 2019 National YoungArts Winner and a recipient of Josephine I. and David J. Josephh Jr. Award.
Ms. Nam’s solo career has included appearances with numerous symphony orchestras across the country. In addition to her performances with the prominent orchestras of Cincinnati and Cleveland, she has performed with the Louisville Orchestra, Miami Valley Symphony, Blue Ash-Montgomery Symphony, Kentucky Symphony, Ohio Valley Symphony, Wright State University Symphony, Lakeland Civic Orchestra, Seven Hills Sinfonietta, Cincinnati Symphony Youth Philharmonic, Cleveland Philharmonic, and Butler Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also appeared twice as soloist with the Philadelphia International Music Festival Orchestra with Maestro Cristian Macelaru as a two-time winner of the PIMF Competition. She frequently played solos with the Starling Chamber Orchestra, most notably at age 9 at the National Convention of American String Teachers Association in Atlanta, and in 2016 as a soloist on the SCO’s China Tour. Her credits internationally also include an invitation in 2012 to perform in the very concert that inaugurated the Harpa International Music Academy in Reykjavik, Iceland. Ms. Nam was a featured soloist for Faure’s Requiem in a concert, Sing for a Cause, conducted by Maestro Louis Langrée.
A devoted chamber musician, Ms. Nam has worked with Colin Carr, Daniel Heifetz, Rohan De Silva, Joseph Lin, Masao Kawasaki, Natasha Brofsky, Samuel Rhodes, Laurie Smukler, David Finckel, Cynthia Phelps, Martin Beaver, Boris Slutsky, Jeremy Denk, Alan Rafferty, Jessie Montgomery, members of the American, Juilliard, Ying, Cavani, Great Wall, Calidore, Borromeo, and Ariel string quartets. She is a founding member of the Immaculata Chamber Music Series and performs regularly throughout the greater Cincinnati region. Her Éclatante String Quartet from the Cincinnati Starling Project won Silver Medal at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Recently Ms. Nam’s performance received rave reviews at the Music Mountain Festival in Connecticut. A born leader, she served as concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, the Walnut Hills High Chamber Orchestra, and the Starling Chamber Orchestra.
In the past, she has spent her summers traveling to various festivals at home and abroad. From the Great Wall International Music Academy in Beijing, the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Maine, and the Cincinnati Young Artist Chamber Music Festival at home in Cincinnati to the Innsbrook Institute in Missouri and the Pacific Region International Summer Music Academy in Canada. She also participated in the Meadowmount School of Music in New York and the Heifetz International Music Institute in Virginia as a Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation Full Scholarship recipient. Ms. Nam performed as a student artist at 2019 Starling-DeLay Symposium on Violin Studies at the Juilliard School, as Artist-in-Residence giving a solo recital and outreach concerts at Randolph College in Virginia, and as a soloist at the inaugural Atlanta Festival Academy International Rising Stars Concert. She also attended 2019 David Kim Orchestral Institute and Aspen Music Festival with a full scholarship orchestral fellowship in 2021. This past summer, she attended the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California for 9 weeks as a fellow, where she was chosen to be in the String Quartet Seminar led by the Takács Quartet and in the String Leadership Program led by Glenn Dicterow. While there, Nam appeared as the concertmaster for the Mahler and Sibelius Concert under Maestro Hannu Lintu. This year, Ms. Nam will be featured at the prestigious Matinée Musicale Cincinnati Recital Series with pianist, Rohan De Silva and will perform the Tchaikovsky Concerto with the Jakarta Symphony Orchestra in February, 2023.
Ms. Nam is a full scholarship Greene Foundation Fellowship student of Catherine Cho and Donald Weilerstein at the Juilliard School. Ms. Nam studied with Prof. Kurt Sassmannshaus since 7 years old and throughout her pre-college years in the Cincinnati Starling Project. Her former teachers also include, Amy J. Lee and Jan Mark Sloman. Ms. Nam has played in masterclasses for Pamela Frank, Robert Lipsett, Paul Kantor, Sibbi Bernhardsson, Friedemann Eichhorn, David Kim, Kathleen Winkler, Mark Kaplan, Rachel Barton Pine, Vadim Gluzman, and Gil Shaham. Nam’s recording and broadcast credits include two appearances on NPR’s radio show “From the Top” and PBS/CET’s “Showcase with Barbara Kellar”. Nam can be heard on Volumes I and II of the Violin Recital Album of Sassmannshaus Tradition published by Bärenreiter.