Musician Bio

Jiyeon Kim is the current Associate Principal Cellist at the Indianapolis Symphony. Ms. Kim, from Seongnam, South Korea, entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2019 and studies cello with Gary Hoffman and Peter Wiley. All students at Curtis receive merit-based, full-tuition scholarships, and Ms. Kim is the Thomas D. Watkins Fellow.

Ms. Kim won first prize of the David Popper International Cello Competition in 2015. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Seocho and Gangnam symphony orchestras and the Orchestral Ensemble Seoul. She attended the Morningside Music Bridge in 2016 and 2017, and performed with the Seoul Baroque Ensemble in 2017.

Before coming to Curtis, Ms. Kim attended the Korea National University of Arts. She previously studied with Kangho Lee. She began playing cello at age eight.

Élias Ackerley, from Shrewsbury, England, is a student of Meng-Chieh Liu and entered Curtis in 2019.

Matthew Christakos, from Toronto, is a student of Gary Hoffman and Peter Wiley, and entered Curtis in 2019.