The Chien-Kim-Watkins Trio formed in 2019 and comprises three of today’s most highly esteemed classical musicians: Gloria Chien, Soovin Kim, and Paul Watkins.
Award-winning pianist Gloria Chien made her orchestral debut at age 16 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She’s the founder and artistic director of the String Theory chamber music series in Tennessee and the director of the Chamber Music Institute at Music@Menlo in California. In 2017, she joined Mr. Kim as co-artistic director of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, which Mr. Kim founded in Vermont in 2009. Since 2020, the husband-and-wife duo has also served as the co-artistic directors of Chamber Music Northwest in Oregon.
Violinist Soovin Kim won first prize at the Paganini International Violin Competition at age 20. His additional honors include the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. For 20 years, he was the first violinist of the Johannes Quartet, and since 2014, he’s been on the faculty of the New England Conservatory.
Paul Watkins has been the cellist of the Emerson String Quartet since 2013, and for 16 years he was a member of The Nash Ensemble. He’s the artistic director of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Michigan and a visiting professor of cello at the Yale School of Music. He won first prize in the 2002 Leeds Conductors Competition, served as music director of the English Chamber Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Ulster Orchestra, and continues to conduct a wide range of internationally acclaimed ensembles.
