Stefan Koim
Stefan Koim, born in 1986 in Hamm in Westphalia, began his musical education at the Municipal Music School of Hamm, where he was supported and guided by his teacher Bernd Kortenkamp. From 2004 to 2006 he studied alongside school at the Koblenz International Guitar Academy in the class of Prof. Hubert Käppel.
Studies
In October 2006, after completing high school, he began parallel studies in music education and artistic instrumental training at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne in the class of Prof. Hubert Käppel. Through the ERASMUS program, he studied from October 2009 to June 2010 at the University Mozarteum Salzburg with Prof. Eliot Fisk. In July 2011 he completed his studies in Cologne with two diplomas with distinction and in Salzburg with the Bachelor of Arts.
Following a one-year Fulbright Program at the New England Conservatory in Boston under Eliot Fisk, he returned to the University Mozarteum Salzburg, where he earned a Master of Arts with distinction. In 2014 he received the Master of Music degree with distinction from the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg. He completed his artistic education in the masterclass of Prof. Jürgen Ruck at the Würzburg University of Music.
His artistic development was complemented by studies at renowned academies, including the Accademia Musicale Chigiana Siena and the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, as well as masterclasses with musicians such as Konrad Junghänel, Jakob Lindberg, Han-An Liu, Carlo Marchione, Roberto Aussel, Pavel Steidl, Manuel Barrueco, and Oscar Ghiglia.
Competitions and Awards
Stefan Koim has won several national and international prizes, beginning with numerous awards at the state and national competition Jugend musiziert and most recently the 4th prize at the BostonGuitarFest Competition. With the ensemble Cembaless, he won both the 3rd prize and the audience award at the Biagio-Marini Competition in Neuburg an der Donau in 2015. Further successes include the audience award at the ZAMUS Spielwiese in 2016 and, in 2017, the audience award together with the Förderpreis Alte Musik of Saarländischer Rundfunk.
Concerts and Performances
Known for his versatility and proficiency on instruments such as electric guitar, banjo, charango, baroque guitar, and theorbo, Stefan Koim is frequently engaged for premieres, film scores, and opera productions. Concert tours have taken him to Russia, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, and the USA.
In 2013 he opened the renowned BostonGuitarFest with a world premiere. Other notable engagements include performances at Paulskirche Frankfurt, Philharmonie Essen, Cologne Opera, TivoliVredenburg Utrecht, Jordan Hall Boston, Wiener Saal Salzburg, Händelhaus Halle, Glazunov Hall at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, the Gnesin Academy in Moscow, and Harvard University in Cambridge.
Support and Collaborations
He has been supported by the Rotary Foundation, the Fulbright Commission, the Werner Richard – Dr. Carl Dörken Foundation, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and the German Academic Scholarship Foundation. The release of his solo CDs A l’Espagnol and Royal marked the beginning of a long-term collaboration with the Kassel-based label musicaphon. He also works closely with the agency Klangkartei.
