Hee-Young Lim

Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing

China / South Korea

Hee-Young is in great demand as a soloist on the international stage. Recent concert appearances have included those with such renowned orchestras as the Budapest Radio Symphony, Houston Symphony, KBS Symphony, Warsaw Philharmonic and the Beijing Symphony Orchestra.

In 2018, Hee-Young released her debut album of French cello concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra, recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, for SONY Classical. This recording was received with great critical acclaim, drawing praise for her “exceptionally refined, silkily lyrical sound” (Gramophone Magazine), and leading one reviewer to exclaim that “Lim outshines her contemporaries in the warmth of expressiveness of her tone, which is of truly rare beauty” (BBC Music Magazine). In December 2019, she released the first in a series of collaborations with pianist, Daniel Lindemann, again on Sony Classical. Her most recent recording ‘Russian Cello Sonatas’ featured in BBC Music Magazine with 5 stars and The Guardian described Lim as “a rising star” and praised her “…poised and transparent account…”.

Hee-Young embraces a wide-ranging repertoire and has a particular passion for championing the works of today’s leading young composers. Most recently, she gave the Asian premiere of Jakub Jankowski’s Cello Sonata at the Tongyeong International Music Festival. Also a devotee of J.S. Bach, she performed a complete cycle of the Bach solo cello suites at the Zhuhai International Festival.

Hee-Young serves as a Professor of Cello at the Beijing Central Conservatory, the first Korean musician to be appointed to this prestigious institution. Prior to this appointment, she was the principal cellist with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, serving under its music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Following initial studies in her hometown of Seoul at the Korean National University, where – at the age of 15 – she was one of their youngest students, Hee-Young’s thirst for further learning took her to such institutions as the New England Conservatory in Boston, the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar and the Conservatoire National Supérieur Musique in Paris. Hee-Young has won a top prize in the VIII Witold Lutoslawski International Cello Competition in 2011 and the first prize in the Washington International String Competition in 2009.

In December 2018, the Minister of Culture of South Korea awarded Hee-Young a Prime Minister’s Commendation. Hee-Young Lim is a GEWA Music endorsed artist. Passionate to help disabled children, she works closely with the Beautiful Charity Foundation.