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Violinist Bomsori Kim Named an Ambassador of Grażyna Bacewicz’s Music

Mar. 30, 2025

World-renowed Korean violinist Bomsori Kim has taken on the honorable title of Ambassador of Grażyna Bacewicz’s music, which she performs worldwide, promoting the legacy of Poland’s most important woman composer.

What Bomsori and Grażyna Bacewicz have in common is not only their instrument and the accolades they won in the International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition (an honorary diploma for Bacewicz, who took part in it in 1935 and later served on its jury; 2nd prize to Kim in its 15th edition of 2016), but also their courage and perseverance in the pursuit of artistic perfection.

Daniel Cichy, PhD, editor-in-chief of PWM Edition, commented: "Bomsori Kim’s love of, and respect for, the works of Grażyna Bacewicz is evident in every musical phrase which she discovers anew for her audience. I am convinced that Bacewicz – an outstanding Polish composer, violinist, pianist, and writer – would be delighted with the fine subtle colors of Bomsori’s interpretations, with the Korean musician’s artistic maturity, emotional sensitivity, and unquestioned virtuosity. We are happy to have Bacewicz’s works performed by such a phenomenally talented artist, who presents a model for new generations of musicians to emulate."

Considered today to be Poland’s greatest woman composer and an eminent figure in twentieth-century music, Grażyna Bacewicz built her position in the music scene with genuine determination, combining a violinist’s career with her work as a composer. She quickly became one of the most outstanding representatives of Neoclassicism in music. Later she reformed her style and gave it a highly individual character.

Grażyna Bacewicz was, for many years, the first performer of her own violin works, both chamber music and concertos, frequently presented in a duo with her brother Kiejstut. On February 3, 1950, she played her Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra – a piece featuring a virtuosic solo part and perfectly designed form – with Cracow Philharmonic Orchestra under Wacław Krzemiński. More than seventy years later, this composition was presented in Bomsori Kim’s new performance arrangement on March 7 at the Witold Lutosławski National Forum of Music in Wrocław, as part of one of PWM Edition Eightieth Anniversary concerts. The solo part was interpreted by Kim, accompanied here by NFM Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the best of its kind in Poland, with which Bomsori Kim also recorded her first album, Violin on Stage (Deutsche Grammophon, 2021). The orchestra was led by British conductor, Duncan Ward. Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra is the first of previously unpublished works by Grażyna Bacewicz, held in manuscript at the National Library of Poland in Warsaw, that are being restored to concert life by PWM Edition. Her other works will also successively be brought out by the esteemed publishing house.

The program of the Wrocław concert also included Karol Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 35 featuring Bomsori Kim as soloist.

In addition, The filmSounds of Poland. Bacewicz, directed by Jakub Piątek and dedicated to Grażyna Bacewicz, is part of PWM Edition’s longstanding mission to promote Polish music worldwide. The project was co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as part of the ‘Inspiring Culture’ program. Bomsori Kim stars in this short film about Grażyna Bacewicz’s life and music and looks back at Bacewicz's career. Here she discovers, among other things, archive recordings featuring the Polish violinist, studies handwritten notes and comments in the music scores, and meets the artist’s closest family members.

Kim notes: "I am greatly honored to be able to act as ambassador of Grażyna Bacewicz’s music. Discovering her extremely expressive and passionate works is to me like an inspiring journey. During my work on the film and concerts, I have had the opportunity to gain more insights into her artistic vision, and I already know that my journey will abound in more new discoveries. I have a strong bond to Bacewicz. Her determination and independence are very close to my mind, and her works let me express myself fully as an artist and violinist."


Bomsori Kim and pianist Julia Okruashvili perform Grażyna Bacewicz’s Oberek No. 1 (Musical Moments)

To learn more about Grażyna Bacewicz, visit pwm.com.pl.
Read more about Bomsori Kim's work to promote the music of Grażyna Bacewicz here.

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