Gueli Kim was born in South Korea and began her musical education in Seoul. Selected as a Kumho Young Artist, she received support from the Kumho Cultural Foundation and performed in numerous concerts from an early age. She was also a First Prize winner of the Dong Ah Music Competition, one of Korea’s major national music competitions. She studied at Seoul National University before continuing her studies with Tabea Zimmermann at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin in 2015. During her studies, she received numerous prizes at international competitions. In 2016, she won First Prize at the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Austria. She was also awarded First Prize at the International Anton Rubinstein Competition and, in 2019, won both First Prize and the Audience Prize at the Beethoven Hradec International Viola Competition in the Czech Republic. As a soloist and chamber musician, Gueli Kim has performed at venues including the Konzerthaus Berlin and participated in international festivals and academies such as the Verbier Festival and the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland. In 2019, she joined the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, performing regularly with the orchestra. In 2022, she became Deputy Principal Viola of the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne. Since November 2023, Gueli Kim has been a member of the Munich Phiharmonic Orchestra.
