Stefan Koim
Stefan Koim
Stefan Koim, born in 1986 in Hamm/Westphalia, began his musical education at the Municipal Music School of Hamm, supported and guided by his teacher Bernd Kortenkamp. From 2004 to 2006 he studied parallel to school at the Koblenz International Guitar Academy in the class of Prof. Hubert Käppel.
Studies
In October 2006, after completing high school, he began his parallel music studies in music education and artistic instrumental training at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne in the class of Prof. Hubert Käppel. As part of the ERASMUS program, he studied from October 2009 to June 2010 at the University Mozarteum Salzburg (class of 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.
After a one-year Fulbright Program at the New England Conservatory in Boston (class of Eliot Fisk), Stefan Koim returned to the University Mozarteum Salzburg, where he graduated with a Master of Arts degree with distinction. In 2014 he was awarded the Master of Music degree (with distinction) by the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg. He completed his musical education in the masterclass of Prof. Jürgen Ruck at the Würzburg University of Music.
His artistic studies were complemented by academies (including Accademia Musicale Chigiana Siena, Fondazione Giorgio Cini) and regular masterclasses with renowned 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, starting with numerous awards at the state and national competition “Jugend musiziert” up to the recently awarded 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. This was followed by the audience award at the “ZAMUS Spielwiese” in 2016, and in early 2017 the audience award as well as the “Förderpreis Alte Musik des Saarländischen Rundfunks.”
Concerts and Performances
Due to his versatility and mastery of other instruments such as electric guitar, banjo, charango, baroque guitar, and theorbo, Stefan Koim is frequently requested for premieres, film scores, and opera performances. 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 highlights include concerts at the Paulskirche Frankfurt, Philharmonie Essen, Cologne Opera, TivoliVredenburg Utrecht, Jordan Hall Boston, Wiener Saal Salzburg, Händelhaus Halle, Glazunov Hall of the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, the Gnesin Academy of Music in Moscow, and Harvard University in Cambridge.
Support and Collaborations
Stefan Koim 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 the solo CDs A l’Espagnol and Royal marked the beginning of a long-term collaboration with the label “musicaphon” in Kassel. He also works closely with the agency “Klangkartei.”
