Participant
Ariel Horowitz
Violin
Accepted to the preliminary round of the 2026 Naumburg International Violin Competition.
Biography supplied for the 2026 competition.
Hailed by The Washington Post as “sweetly lyrical,” violinist, composer, and community organizer Ariel Horowitz maintains an active career as a soloist and chamber musician. In 2024, Horowitz released her debut album, Hearth, on the Bright Shiny Things label, and in 2025 joined the agency’s roster for worldwide management.
A winner of the 2020 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, Horowitz is also a prizewinner of the Grumiaux International Competition, Klein Competition, and Stulberg Competition, and received a Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant in 2017. She was a semifinalist in the 2018 Naumburg International Violin Competition and the 2016 Menuhin Competition.
Horowitz has appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Merkin Hall, Joe’s Pub, the Kravis Center, Mostly Music, Chamber Music Detroit, Tertulia Chamber Music, and with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, among others. As a soloist, she has performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Santa Fe ProMusica, Neue Philharmonie Westphalia, Kammerphilharmonie Hamburg, and the Manhattan School of Music Camerata at Merkin Hall as part of Rob Kapilow’s 'What Makes It Great?' series. Festival appearances include Newport Classical, Grand Canyon Music Festival, and Caroga Lake Music Festival. Horowitz tours regularly with Vision Duo, formed with percussionist Britton-René Collins, and toured nationally with the string quintet Sybarite5 during their 2025–26 season. She has also performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Frisson Ensemble, and serves as Principal Second Violin and guest Concertmaster of Pegasus: The Orchestra and Concertmaster of OrchestraQ.
Horowitz is Founder and Artistic Director of the Heartbeat Music Project, recipient of the Lewis Prize for Music’s $500,000 Accelerator Award in 2022. For her community organizing work, Horowitz received Yale University’s Jefferson Award for public service.
Horowitz is a graduate of the Yale School of Music and The Juilliard School, where she studied with Itzhak Perlman, Catherine Cho, and Ani Kavafian.
Pianists
2026 International Violin Competition
Kyoung Im Kim
, piano
Kyoung Im Kim is a Seoul-born pianist whose collaborative work encompasses instrumental and vocal music. A first-prize winner of the Artur Balsam competition, she has performed in Europe, Asia, and the United States and received awards in solo competitions in Korea. Her festival work includes the Heifetz International Music Institute, Summit Music Festival, Southampton Arts Festival, Amati Music Festival, and Icicle Creek Chamber Music Festival, as well as the Latin American Violin Academy in Venezuela.
Kim studied with Heasook Rhee at Manhattan School of Music, completing a master’s degree, Professional Studies training, and a Doctor of Musical Arts with merit-scholarship support. She served as Aaron Rosand’s official pianist at the Curtis Institute of Music, and her professional experience includes staff-pianist work at Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, and Mannes. She has participated in masterclasses with Robert McDonald, Lambert Orkis, and Martin Katz, and played for classes led by artists including Pamela Frank, Leonidas Kavakos, Marilyn Horne, and Thomas Hampson.