Krannert Center has announced the winner of the 2017 version of their Debut Artist competition. Soprano Yunji Shim is a doctoral student in voice performance and literature at U of I. She will be giving her Debut Artist recital at Foellinger Hall on Sunday, April 23rd.
KCPA’s esteemed Debut Artist award and competition has been running for 33 years. The intent of the competition is to pull from the pool of amazing young talent that the college has to offer and award one promising student with a full professional contract. Learn more about the Debut Artist program and Shim’s show below.
KRANNERT CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
2017 DEBUT ARTIST ANNOUNCED
Urbana, IL—The dual roles of Krannert Center as a professional performing arts center and a training facility for students reflect its mission to nurture excellence in the arts through education and presentation. Krannert Center’s long-standing commitment to young artists is uniquely strengthened by its affiliation with the University of Illinois and the School of Music.
In 1984, Dean Jack McKenzie of the College of Fine and Applied Arts recognized that the performing caliber of many students in the School of Music equaled that of some of the young professional artists featured at Krannert Center. McKenzie, at the time Acting Director of Krannert Center, and Robert Bays, then Director of the School of Music, agreed that the School of Music and Krannert Center together would choose a student through audition and that Krannert Center would present the student in recital with a full professional contract. Beginning in 1990, the Krannert Center Debut Artist recital became a part of the Sunday Salon Series, a series specifically devoted to the presentation of young artists in which an intimate atmosphere is created by seating audience members onstage with the performers. All Krannert Center Debut Artists, since the very first in 1984, have remained active performers and educators. For these artists, the award has carried national impact because of Krannert Center’s reputation for excellence.
Soprano Yunji Kim has been selected as the 2017 Krannert Center Debut Artist. She is a third-year doctoral student in voice performance and literature at the University of Illinois, having received a master’s degree in music at Eastman School of Music in 2013 and a bachelor’s degree in music at Seoul National University in South Korea in 2011. Her past credits include Donna Anna in the Charlotte, North Carolina, CPCC production of Don Giovanni; scenes from Faust at the Kodak Hall at Eastman School of Music; and Ottavia in Poppea with Lyric Theatre @ Illinois. She is also a past winner of the young artist competition of the Artist Presentation Society in St. Louis and won the second prize at the Southern Illinois Young Artist Organization vocal competition. She has studied with Cynthia Haymon-Coleman, Dr. Robert McIver, Dr. Hyunju Yun, and Soonhee Lee.
On her Krannert Center Debut Artist recital, Kim will perform selections from Reynaldo Hahn, Richard Strauss, Stefano Donaudy, Luigi Arditi, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Ernest Charles. Pianist Hana Lim will accompany her.
Tickets and Performance Information
Krannert Center Debut Artist: Yunji Shim, soprano
Sunday, April 23 at 3pm
Foellinger Great Hall
Pick Five+: 49 / SC 44 / Stu 15 / UI & Yth 10
Single: 51 / SC 46 / Stu 15 / UI & Yth 10
Balcony: 10 / UI & Yth 5
Tickets for stage seating are currently unavailable; to join the waiting list, patrons may visit KrannertCenter.com or call 217/333-6280. Balcony seating is still available; patrons are asked to please contact the Ticket Office at 217/333-6280 or 800/KCPATIX (527-2849) for more information. Patrons who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or speech-impaired may also make inquiries via TTY at 217.333.9714.
Past Debut Artist Winners:
April 28, 1991 Gregory Mason, accompanist, joined by tenor Mark
Hamman, soprano Janet Robb, soprano Mary Ann
Kyle, and soprano Julianne Cross
May 3, 1992 Margaret Donaghue, clarinet, with Victoria Demaree, piano
April 25, 1993 Layna Chianakas, mezzo-soprano, with Gregory Mason, piano
April 24, 1994 Horia Mihail, piano
April 23, 1995 Irina Muresanu, violin, with Joseph Bognar, piano
April 28, 1996 Diana Popescu, piano
April 20, 1997 Catalin Rotaru, double bass, with Diana Popescu, piano
May 3, 1998 Harold Gray Meers, tenor, with Dewitt Tipton, piano
May 2, 1999 Samir Golescu, piano
April 30, 2000 Owen Rockwell, percussion, with Britton Plourde, alto flute
April 8, 2001 Kyung-A Yang, piano
April 28, 2002 Alda Dizdari, violin, with Magi Dizdari, piano
April 6, 2003 Lori Williams, soprano, with Jeffrey Peterson, piano
May 2, 2004 Wae-Jane Chen, piano
April 17, 2005 Ann Kai-An Wu, piano
April 23, 2006 Co-winners: Bomi Lim, piano, and Rochelle Sennet, piano
Honorable Mention: Jane Boxall, marimba
(Featured in Afterglow on April 13, 2006)
April 15, 2007 Thomas Kronholz, piano
April 27, 2008 Yu-Chi Tai, piano
April 26, 2009 Melissa Davis, mezzo-soprano, with Sun-Hee Kim, piano
Honorable Mention: Phil Doyle, tenor saxophone, and Henning Schröder, alto saxophone
(Featured in Krannert Center 40th Anniversary Celebration, May 1, 2009)
April 25, 2010 Chen-Yu Huang, harp
April 17, 2011 Co-winners: Patrycja Likos, cello, and Chu-Chun Yen, piano
April 15, 2012 Wuna Meng, piano
April 21, 2013 Moye Chen, piano
May 4, 2014 Alexandra Nowakowski, soprano (with accompanist Jianan Yu)
and Samuel Gingher, pianoMay 3, 2015 Shin-Young Park, piano
May 1, 2016 Jae Eun Jenny Shin, flute (with Ieng Ieng Lam, piano)