Yubeen Kim Prague Flute Competition Winner

When did you start playing?

I started playing the flute when I was 10 years old.

Actually I started playing the piano before playing the flute.

Why did you choose to play the flute?

My mother was playing the flute as a hobby, and I was following her lessons.

So I listened to her playing and then I also wanted to play the flute.

Because the charm of the flute caught my interest. And then I started learning the flute.

Who are your greatest inspirations?

First my parents, I can't do anything without my parents.

And French Composers. When I listen to the French music, It makes me feel better, especially Claude Debussy.

And all of my teachers.

Who have been your mentors?

Soyoung Lee and Chang-kook Kim in Korea.

Philippe Bernold , Claude Lefebvre and José-Daniel Castellon in Lyon France.

How do you prepare for performing at a competition?

When I prepare for a competition, I grasp juries in advance.

That's because one of the most important things includes juries.

So I find out who juries are.

Also, I try to do all my best till I get used to many pieces of the competition.

That makes me understand many pieces and be mine, my music.

Do you memorize all of your music?  

Not always. But when I practice the music, I can find out that it is memorized someday.

When I plunge into the music completely, I can't help memorizing it.

Nowadays, there are many competitions which want to be performed learning it by heart.

So we have to practice to memorize by training it.

Do you have perfect pitch or photographic memory to help with the memorization process?

Yes, I have perfect pitch.

So I am very sensitive to pitch.

Especially, flute is hard to make good pitch.

I think that music starts from the elaborate and accurate pitch.

Can you share with us 3 goals for this year?

After getting good results from Geneva competition and Prague competition, I'm very honored and pleased to be invited to many festivals.

So I'd like to end up having a good performance.

I'll do my best for it.

And it will be likely to be a meaningful year for me because I will be an adult at the age of 18 this year.

Now this is a beginning year as an adult life.

I hope it will be a good starting year for me.

What about 3 dreams for your life?

1. To make people happy and pleased with my music

2. To become a helpful musician in this world.

3. Despite endless learning, to share what I learned with others and to do music throughout my life.

Do you have 5 quirky fun facts about you?

I like watching korean TV programs.

I like cooking many kinds of fusion food.

I liked so much to go to amusement park when I was young.

I love eating Kimchi.

I enjoy drinking coke.