Reviews
Violinist Michael Jinsoo Lim with dancers Lucien Postlewaite and Lesley Rausch, in Balanchine/Stravinsky: Duo Concertant at Pacific Northwest Ballet
Photo by Angela Sterling
Reviews for Michael Jinsoo Lim: Kinetic
Michael Jinsoo Lim: Kinetic, Gramophone: May 2025
Michael Jinsoo Lim: Kinetic, Classical Voice North America: April 14, 2025
Michael Jinsoo Lim: Kinetic, The WholeNote: April/May 2025
Press Quotes:
Gramophone:
“This intelligently assembled recital of contemporary solo violin music provides a vivid portrait of Michael Jinsoo Lim’s first-class musicianship and technical finesse.”
“Lim has showmanship to spare.”
“Lim’s reading is thrilling in its virtuosity yet offers charm and a sense of fun as well.”
“He plays Piazzolla with terrific swagger and that essential hint of melancholy.”
"Henry Cowell's Homage to Iran was played with delicious abandon by violinist Michael Jinsoo Lim.”
Los Angeles Times:
“Conspicuously accomplished champion of contemporary music.”
Seattle Times:
"Violinist Michael Jinsoo Lim hit trills and cirrus-high notes with bewitching concision."
“Masterful violin work.”
“Violinist Michael Jinsoo Lim’s delicate solo rendering of a Tchaikovsky piece added by Balanchine to this production (it’s from Sleeping Beauty, but uses a theme later developed in Nutcracker) made what could have been an awkward pause in the first-act action into a moment of quiet beauty.”
New York Times:
“Ms. Pantastico excelled in the concerto’s outer movements, where the upward sweep of a leg or the downward tap of a toe showed her uncannily at one with Michael Jinsoo Lim’s solo violin.”
The WholeNote:
“Kinetic is the remarkable solo album by violinist Michael Jinsoo Lim.”
“A fascinating recital of quite brilliant playing by Lim.”
Classical Voice North America:
“Lim is more than up to the task, skillfully negotiating the multiple stopping and daredevil octaves and soaring to the top of the register with virtuoso flair and lush tone.”
The Stranger:
"A formidable violinist."
International Examiner:
"Michael Jinsoo Lim is a wonderfully evocative violinist, equally comfortable with the classical repertory as he is with contemporary music. Seen live, his playing smokes and sizzles with dynamic tension."
Dance International:
“Michael Jinsoo Lim’s luscious violin solos were remarkable for their sweetness and clarity.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
“Violinist Michael Jinsoo Lim explored the (Prokofiev) concerto’s shadings with feeling and finesse.”
“Violinist Michael Jinsoo Lim and pianist Christina Siemens played the Pärt with feeling and depth, demonstrating once again how fortunate PNB is to have musicians of such quality."
Les Dernières Nouvelles D’Alsace (France):
"Thanks to the violin and viola of Michael Jinsoo Lim and Melia Watras, the competent neo-classicism of the Duo by the eclectic Paul Chihara achieved a rare refinement.”
Seattle Ballet Blog:
“Michael Jinsoo Lim's emotive violin stole the air from the theater.”
“The most heartfelt of melodies, played gloriously by the ever-astounding Michael Jinsoo Lim.”
KCTS-Seattle:
“It gives off a lonely sense of déjà vu that is never truly resolved, supported by the ethereal music featuring sublime violin solos played by Michael Jinsoo Lim.”
Tacoma News-Tribune:
“Michael Jinsoo Lim gives the sweetness a gutsy tango feel”
Seattle Dances
“Michael Jinsoo Lim’s violin solo was haunting and lovely, a breathtaking combination with the tragedy of Odette’s solo.”
Seattle Chinese Times:
“Michael Jinsoo Lim, the violinist, played Prokofiev’s first violin concerto beautifully, and the constantly shifting pace and notes of the music mirror the fracturing of the dream on stage.”