Brightfeather, is a dynamic and immersive violin-piano duo founded by violinist Benjamin Hoffman and pianist Irene Kim. Through deeply personal performances, Brightfeather is committed to bringing the light, hope, and strength of music to audiences across the globe. The duo has performed throughout the United States as well as in Europe, Asia, and Oceania, and presents repertoire spanning an extensive range of time periods and musical languages.
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Irene Kim | Piano
Pianist Irene Kim, a critically acclaimed prize-winner of international competitions, has performed across the globe in Europe, Asia, North America, and Australasia appearing in venues such as Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Hollywood Bowl, and Coachella. She is known for her powerful and authoritative performances, which include the rare feat of performing Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto without a conductor. As a genre-defying musician, she performs on both piano and harpsichord as co-founder of Brightfeahter as well as alongside Danny Elfman in his iconic career-spanning shows.
Continuously fascinated by the music and art of her contemporary surroundings, she works frequently with living composers and collaborates with visual artists and dancers. Her additional training as a conductor and piano technician informs her performance practice and instruction. She holds a doctorate from the Peabody Conservatory, where she was awarded the Albert and Rosa Silverman Memorial Scholarship and the Lillian Gutman Memorial Piano Prize by the Conservatory for her musical endeavors during her studies there with Boris Slutsky. |
Benjamin Hoffman | Violin
Violinist Benjamin Hoffman has been heard across Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, and the North America, where he has given countless performances as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader. He has performed alongside artists such as Ani Kavafian, David Shifrin, Peter Frankl, Wolfram Christ, Jorja Fleezanis, and Gary Hoffman among others, in various chamber music formations at festivals such as Yellow Barn, Chamber Music Northwest, Aspen, and Music Academy of the West. In his Carnegie Hall debut, he performed Aaron Jay Kernis’s “Mozart en Route” and Hindemith’s “Kammermusik Nr. 1.” Recently, he had the honor of performing before UN Secretary Ban Ki Moon as a member of Sejong Soloists at the United Nations in New York.
Mr. Hoffman has served as concertmaster from an early age, performing both symphonic repertoire as well as chamber orchestra repertoire without conductor. Last year he led the Yale Philharmonia under the baton of John Adams at Avery Fisher Hall in New York to critical acclaim, and he has also appeared as guest concertmaster with the New Haven Symphony, the Eastern Connecticut Symphony, the Sichuan Orchestra of Chengdu, and Symphony Song in Seoul, Korea. In a recent performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto, he was praised for his “virtuosity and deep feeling…impeccable intonation [and] a stirring, inspired performance.” Other appearances as a soloist have included numerous concertos as well as works ranging from solo Bach to Brahms’s Double Concerto to contemporary premieres in venues such as the National Centre for Performing Arts in Beijing, China. |