Chloe Kim | Life After Juilliard

Postcards From Juilliard Alums

Graduating during the COVID-19 crisis was among the hardest things I’ve ever done. This full stop, however, presented me with the opportunity to really reconnect with why the arts are such an essential service. In times of emergency, no one can survive on their own; one has to think of the group. If you look after the needs of others, it gives you purpose; and that purpose gives you the burst of energy and drive needed to make it through times like this. Since leaving Juilliard, I’ve been featured in the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s 30 Classical Musicians Under 30 and have been offered a residency and concerto debut with the National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa. I am also the creator and artistic director of Music for the Pause, an online chamber music series running in my current pandemic base, Victoria, British Columbia, for which we received some startup funding from Juilliard’s Marks Center for Career Services and Entrepreneurship. To date, we’ve raised about $30,000 for our musicians, and our audio is set to be streamed again by CBC Radio. For me, music is an art form of empathy as well as a conduit to love—it’s that sacred. I’m proud of the way this project has made people feel, even by keeping our musicians creatively engaged. If it can make other people feel connected, it’s a good thing to have in the world right now. 

Violinist Chloe Kim (MM ’20, historical performance)