Cellist Sally Kim works with BMP students as a Teaching Artist Intern through New England Conservatory's "Music-in-Education Concentration." Get to know Sally's music and explore the purpose of this wonderful program for students.
Born in 1995, Sally is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree at The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, studying under the tutelage of Paul Katz. She is a chamber musician, winning multiple competitions and scholarships, and performing with the Trinity Trio; an orchestral musician, performing as a member of the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra in 2017; a solo artist, debuting with The St. Matthews Orchestra at age 14; and a recording artist, collaborating with the New York composer Missy Mazzoli in recording her complete string trios
and quartets in 2019.
Sally also serves as a music ambassador. With funding from national arts organization Creative New Zealand, she has travelled with her quartet to China to give concerts in Shanghai and Suzhou as part of the New Zealand Music Festival. In 2016, she was selected to be a representative of New Zealand Tertiary Music by performing at the Beijing Pacific Alliance Summit. She has also worked with other national organizations, such as Chamber Music New Zealand.
Performing has also taken Sally to the United Kingdom and Thailand. Success in the Thailand concert series enabled her chamber group to further engage in recordings through the New Zealand Embassies across multiple countries in Southeast Asia.
In this video, listen to Sally perform as she talks about her musical inspirations and purpose.
Sally discusses her role at BMP and what she has learned, and her exciting future plans.
As a Teaching Artist Intern at BMP, I mainly focus on observing and studying the teaching styles of the classroom instructor. One thing I enjoy most during the observations are the Open Mic sessions. One week, a student gave a short performance of a scale they were working on. The student played with their best effort and I was very happy with the seriousness of the student. The way the teacher responded to the student's playing was what I was astounded with. Rather than hearing responses such as "you played wonderfully", or "that was great", the teacher said, "I loved your creative touch into the scale". The article "The Secret to Raising Smart Kids" by Carol Dweck addresses the problem of calling a student "talented" holding an "implicit belief that intelligence is innate and fixed." However, the compliment the student received unconsciously promoted the student to think that creative approach is something to strive for, and at the same time acknowledged that the student was creative. Seeing multiple episodes like this was what had really inspired me to study and research more to become an effective teacher like at BMP. It was a valuable experience witnessing and learning from BMP this semester.
Right now, I am planning to start a doctorate degree in September of this year where they offer many teaching opportunities and deeper study into the field of music and education. My plan [after college] is to take a performing/teaching position as part of a chamber ensemble at university or college.
The Music-in-Education Concentration Program at NEC
New England Conservatory's MIE program is headed by Josh Gilbert, who has been an active performer and music educator in the Boston area for over a decade. He now teaches three courses in the MIE department and oversees the guided internship program and the digital portfolio system.
Gilbert describes the program as "[providing] an entry point for students into the field of education while they pursue their degree requirements. The mission of the MIE Concentration Program is to encourage NEC students to pursue pedagogy, education, guided internships, and teaching to facilitate subsequent career opportunities with arts organizations, schools, and institutions of higher education."
The program covers a wide range of topic areas, including human development, music & brain development, cross-cultural music education practices, music technology, educational psychology, philosophy, improvisation, motivation, pedagogy, and qualitative and quantitative research methods. Interns work with nonprofits, schools, and on self-directed teaching and research projects.
Sally performs Chopin's Polonaise Brillante with pianist Feng Niu.
To learn more about Sally, we encourage you to check out her full biography on our Teaching Artists page.