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
Praised for her “gleaming tone” (Gramophone) and “brilliance of the lyrical passages” (Classicamente), 23-year-old violinist, Christina Nam, has concertized around the world appearing in recitals and as a soloist with numerous orchestras. This past summer, she participated in the Verbier Festival Academy 2025, and received the Prix Reyl Award for violinists at the Academy.
Since her solo debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Robert Trevino at age 9, 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. 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. 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. 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.
Ms. Nam’s solo career has included appearances with numerous symphony orchestras across the world. In addition to her performances with the prominent orchestras of Cincinnati and Cleveland, Nam recently performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto as a soloist with the Jakarta Simfonia Orchestra in Jakarta, Indonesia, under Maestra Rebecca Tong. She returned August 2024 to perform the Sibelius Violin Concerto, and lead the orchestra as Concertmaster in the second half of the program, performing Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony. She was a featured recitalist for the Matinee Musicale Cincinnati concert series with pianist, Rohan de Silva, and together they recently performed for the Salon De Virtuosi Holiday Concert as a Young Artist.
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 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. At the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, she was a fellow in the String Quartet Seminar led by the Takács Quartet, and appeared as concertmaster under Maestro Hannu Lintu. More recent festivals include The Perlman Music Program, Kneisel Hall, and the Verbier Festival Academy.
Upcoming concerts include Music For Food (NY), with artists Laurie Smukler, Natasha Brofsky, and Sam Rosenthal, a residency at Tippet Rise (MT), artist at Spiritus Festival (NY), and guest artist at the Chesapeake Music Festival (MD).
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. Upon graduating her Bachelor’s degree, Juilliard awarded her the Peter Mennin Prize for outstanding achievement and leadership in music.