“If I don’t have a banana, I will be crazy and more nervous,” Lim said. “It gives me energy and confidence.”
At 8 p.m. last night at the Musical Arts Center, featured soloist Lim played the violin alongside the Philharmonic Orchestra for their final concert of the school year.
Waiting in the lobby before the doors opened for the event, Nashville residents Janet and John Raffauf came to the concert in support of their friend, who is the conductor, but they said they were very interested in the music, as well.
“We used to come to go to the violin competitions, so we’re anxious to hear the violin soloist,” Janet Raffauf said. “We really enjoy the concerts here.”
The concert commenced with “Concerto in D Minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 47,” composed by Jean Sibelius and featuring Lim on the violin. Although Lim is not a member of the Philharmonic Orchestra, she was given the opportunity to perform this piece when she won the concerto competition the music school offers every year. Lim competed against 18 other violinists and said her two months of preparing the piece paid off.
“I was just happy,” ?Lim said.
When all the concert members took their seats and lights on stage came up, Lim walked onto the stage and did some last minute tuning before she started to play. She stood next to the conductor with her legs planted firmly shoulder-width apart as she swayed side to side and vigorously stroked her bow against the strings of her violin.
Lim said the concerto is not an easy piece to play, but she said it is her favorite she has played so far.
When she played the piece, she said, it put a picture in her mind as though her boyfriend left her, though she has no personal connection to that thought.
“I feel sad, but just when I play this piece,” Lim said.
Paul Nadler, the conductor of the concert, said listening to Lim play, it is easy to hear why she was chosen to perform the piece.
“She has a beautiful sound, excellent technique, and a winning combination of consistency and artistry,” Nadler said in an email. “She clearly loves the Sibelius and plays it convincingly.”
The second piece, “Interstellar Arias,” is the premiere of IU student Steven Snethkamp’s doctoral ?dissertation.
The concert ended with Richard Strauss’ “Don Juan, Op. 20.” Nadler said it was loosely based on the poem by Nicholaus Lenau and ?described the exploits of the infamous legendary figure.
“The music is impulsive, colorful, descriptive, brash and sweeping by turns,” Nadler said.
Nadler said the program made him feel excited, and each piece was a bit of a cliffhanger.
Lim earned her undergraduate degree in Korea but came to IU to further her studies with a performance diploma. She said the teaching style is much different in Korea than in the United States.
“Here, professors make me think more freely and thinking more about music,” Lim said.
Lim said she doesn’t like to practice playing her violin but that there is one thing that really motivates her to practice.
“When I am on the stage and performing with the piano or orchestra, I feel happy and like it touches my soul,” Lim said.
