Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, Dr. Mia HyeYeon Kim began her piano studies at the age of seven. She has earned prizes in the Frances Walton Competition, the Metropolitan International Piano Competition, the Texas State International Piano Competition, the Memphis International Piano Competition, the Universal Music Competition, and the Seoul Philharmonic Competition. In the summer of 2025, she was invited to perform in the Victory Verticals LIVE concert, presenting a varied program that included Chopin’s Ballades. The Victory Verticals were portable upright pianos manufactured by Steinway & Sons for U.S. troops during World War II, one of which was restored and featured in this concert. In spring 2024, Dr. Kim performed George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the University of Washington Wind Ensemble, conducted by Timothy Salzman, in both Seattle and Daejeon, South Korea. In 2023, she performed with the Central Texas Philharmonic Orchestra under Stefan Sanders as a winner of the Texas State International Piano Concerto Competition. She won the University of Washington Concerto Competition in 2022 and performed Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the UW Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Rahbee. Also in 2023, she premiered Viktor Kosenko’s Mazurka No. 1 on Classical KING FM 98.1. Dr. Kim has performed in major venues including Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall in New York, Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Cypress Hall at California State University Northridge, Youngsan Art Hall in Seoul, and the Palazzo del Vignola with the Napolinova Orchestra in Todi, Italy. She has also participated in masterclasses with esteemed pianists such as Richard Goode, John Perry, Julian Martin, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Enrico Elisi, Boris Slutsky, Dmitry Rachmanov, Hieyon Choi, and Gary Graffman. An active performer in her community, she has appeared at the Seattle Public Library, the Museum of Flight, Seattle Opera’s Tagney Jones Hall, and the Seattle Art Museum.
As a dedicated chamber musician, Dr. Kim has performed extensively with both vocalists and instrumentalists in programs spanning Baroque through contemporary repertoire. She won the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music Chamber Music Competition as a member of a piano trio. She has also served as the collaborative pianist for the University of Cincinnati Men’s Chorus and Cabaret Singers, and performed in the Lowbrow Opera Collective’s production of Dana Kaufman’s opera Diary of a Madman. Currently, she serves as a collaborative pianist at the University of Washington.
Dr. Kim is also an experienced educator. At the University of Washington, she has been a Teaching Assistant for the Modern Music Ensemble and secondary piano courses. She has served as Director of the Creative Keyboards Piano Camp and as a piano faculty member at Music Works Northwest in Bellevue, Washington. In fall 2024, she was invited to give masterclasses and perform as a faculty artist at the Georgia Musicale Group Retreat Festival. In summer 2025, she was appointed a Rising Faculty Star at the 15th Texas State International Piano Festival, where she taught masterclasses for gifted young musicians. She has also served as an adjudicator for the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle and for the Washington Music Educators Association’s Solo and Ensemble competition since 2023.
Outside of music, Dr. Kim enjoys coffee, movies, and yoga. She recently completed her vinyasa yoga teaching certification and is exploring ways to integrate yoga into musical training. In 2022, she led a “Yoga for Musicians” workshop at the University of Washington with support from the UW School of Music Student Advisory Council.
Dr. Kim earned her Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Washington with a dissertation titled An Analytical Study of Das Jahr by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, under the direction of Craig Sheppard. She is a professional performance member of the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle, the PNW Kobzar Project, and the Georgia Musicale Group. She received her Bachelor of Music from Yonsei University in Seoul, her Master of Music from the New England Conservatory under Victor Rosenbaum, and her Artist Diploma from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music under Soyeon Kate Lee.
Since 2022, she has served as adjunct faculty in the Master of Arts in Music program at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia.
