Beomjae Kim’s Magic Flute: Musician and Painter Enchants Through His Art
Beomjae Kim. Credit: William Oh
“The flute is the true magical rod that changes all it touches in the inward world; an enchanter's wand at which the secret depths of the soul open,” so wrote the German Romantic author Jean Paul. As a child, Beomjae Kim fell under the flute’s spell, and like one of the children of Hamelin, he followed the instrument’s charming sound where it would lead. From his homeland of Korea to the United States, Kim has pursued his love of the flute, and, along the way, discovered another talent, painting. Now he is devoting more of his time to the visual arts, while keeping up a successful and rewarding career in music.
Beomjae Kim Meets the Flute
Beomjae Kim grew up in a highly cultured family in South Korea. His father is an architect, but his musical inclinations were especially nurtured by his mother.
“My mom went to school for viola performance when she was younger,” Kim said. “Even though she quit playing viola after she got married, she still was very interested in music. So music and art were very close to me when I was little.”
Kim says he started playing piano when he was three-years-old, but soon lost interest. Then he started playing recorder, which enkindled an interest in wind instruments. In third grade, he started learning flute, and, as he discovered his affinity for the instrument, he became more serious about it. When he was in the fifth grade, he attended a concert that would inspire him to become a professional flutist.
“My teacher was and still is the principal flute of the Korean Symphony Orchestra,” he said “She gave me a comp ticket to her concert with the symphony where she played (Debussy’s) Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. I was mesmerized by how the flute can sound in an orchestra. By that time, I had gone to many symphony concerts, but that was the first time that I realized the flute has a magical charm as a solo instrument and as an orchestral instrument.”
Beomjae Kim Leaves for the States
Knowing in his heart that the flute was his future, Kim devoted himself to mastering the instrument. In 2008, he left South Korea for the United States to pursue his undergraduate studies at Oberlin College and Conservatory in Ohio. He then received his master’s degree and artist diploma from the Manhattan School of Music. He is also an alumnus of Ensemble Connect, a program affiliated with Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School and Weill Music Institute.
”It’s a highly selective, two-year post-graduate program where they pick a small number of musicians to do interactive performances in New York City public schools,” Kim said. “Each fellow is partnered with one public school for two years, and then we go around to each other’s schools to give interactive performances. We also performed in several different non-traditional venues, such as prisons or correctional facilities, hospitals and facilities with visually-impaired citizens. We also performed in high profile venues like Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.”
A Champion of New Music
Since completing his schooling, Kim has created a remarkable career for himself. He has been a guest performer with the New York Philharmonic, and Korean Symphony Orchestra and has given concerts at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. His performances have been broadcast live on New York City’s WQXR, Philadelphia's WRTI, Chicago’s WFMT and Medici TV.
One of Kim’s proudest accomplishments has been his championing of new works. He has played and toured with Music from Copland House, an ensemble affiliated with the Aaron Copland House.
“They promote music by living American composers,” Kim said. “With Copland House, I did the world premiere of Fine Lines by a young American composer named Viet Cuong. It’s a six-movement piece, where each movement is based on Picasso’s line drawings. I thought it was very cool to see how a composer reacts to other artists and art works.”
Kim has also commissioned works himself, including one inspired by a painting by the African-American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner.
“The piece is called On a Painting by Henry Osawa Tanner: The Thankful Poor by American composer Shawn Okpebholo,” Kim said. “The commission was done with the generous support of Astral Artists, and was a very exciting event where I was able to connect with a composer who was well-established and who understands my playing very well. The whole experience of being involved in his creation was more than fun.”
Beomjae Kim the Painter
Kim’s appreciation for musical works inspired by the visual arts is perhaps because he is a painter himself. He has been painting since he was a child, and has continued to paint ever since.
“I really enjoy painting,” Kim said. “When I moved to New York, I lived with a roommate who would paint on a regular basis. He’s also a very accomplished pianist. So I started painting next to him, and realized this is a great artistic outlet that’s not about making sounds.”
Kim’s art has a minimalist vibe that induces calm but also plays tricks with your perception. His paintings, like Imperfect White Dots and Dots on Linen, can seem highly ordered, but Kim says they are also very random.
“For example, my painting Black Dots No.1 looks like the dots are all in random order, but they are somehow in line,” Kim said. “When you look at it without thinking about the order or anything, they can appear random or you can find some kind of order. I try not to think about perfection, but at the same time, I really enjoy the repetitiveness when it comes to my own visual art.”
Kim says his art is similar to the music of one of his favorite composers, Eric Satie.
“I enjoy the minimalistic aspect of Satie’s music, and when it comes to my visual art, I also like the minimalist look. I really like the flexibility of Satie’s music. He wrote very, very simple music, but it depends on the interpretation of a performer or a singer. It can become a completely different piece. Unfortunately, Satie didn’t write any music for the flute.”
Beomjae Kim Looks Ahead
With his varied interests and immense talent, the future is looking bright for Kim. In fact, he already has several projects on the horizon. One is a piece for flute inspired by one of his paintings.
“It’s a project I have been doing with a composer named Jung Yoon Wie,” Kim said. “She’s an American composer based in San Francisco. She is writing a piece in response to my painting that I’ve been working on for several years. I don’t have the complete painting finished yet, but I have the plans that I made on a sheet of paper and little drawings that I did on paper with colored pencil.”
Another one of Kim’s exciting projects grew out of his experience during the pandemic. It’s called The Solitaire Project.
“Because of the pandemic everyone had a lot of time to practice but not an opportunity to perform with each other,” Kim said. “There were a lot of virtual concerts or pre-recorded concerts for only one person. I’ve decided to revisit some of the solo flute pieces I’ve played and then add new pieces to that list. My goal is to have at least two 50 minute-programs of solo flute music that I can rotate or mix and match between those two programs.”
Kim says he is hoping to make videos of these solo flute performances. With his musical and visual skills and singular vision, they are sure to be unique works of art.
To learn more about Beomjae Kim, visit beomjaekim.com.
