NYC-based violinist and composer Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim is a curious mind in the experimental music scene. As co-founder of the improvisation-focused ensembles Muzosynth Orchestra and Impromptuo, the South Korean immigrant trained in European classical music before falling deeply in love with the art of improvisation. She has been presented by acclaimed organizations such as Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, House of Yes, International Contemporary Ensemble, Joe’s Pub, The Juilliard School, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, (Le) Poisson Rouge, Metropolis Ensemble, Music Technology at Mason Gross, Prague Conservatory, Rudolfinum, and The Walden School, as well as Current Showcase, Fifth Wall Performing Arts, and National Arts Diversity Integration Association. She has won numerous prizes and grants, including the Bartók World Competition & Festival, Chamber Music America’s Ensemble Forward Grant, and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Creative Learning Grant. Lim’s debut album, Starling (2023), was picked album of the day on Bandcamp Daily, picked best new song on Paste Magazine, and premiered on Deepest Currents.

 

In addition to performing and composing, Lim is faculty member at Noel Pointer Foundation and Opus 118 Harlem School of Music and was former faculty member at Kneisel Hall Adult Chamber Music Institute, Luzerne Music Center, and New Amsterdam School. As of 2026, Lim holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts, where she studied with Todd Phillips. Her DMA thesis, "Anthony Braxton's Creation of a Genre-Defying, Transcultural Sonic Landscape," examines Braxton's compositional practices that blend improvisatory influences from both jazz and 20th-century European classical music. She also holds both a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, having studied under Sally Thomas and Laurie Smukler.