About Us
Connected by blood, musical telepathy, or perhaps simply chamber music skills, Dal Duo seeks to deliver fresh and accessible performances with musical and collaborative excellence.
Avid performers, Dal Duo has appeared as guest artists for the La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest and the Ventura Music Festival. They have performed widely across the United States in a diverse range of settings, from local poetry nights and retirement homes to Washington D.C’s Kennedy Center.
Since their youth, Dal Duo has been keenly aware of music’s power to connect, heal, and inspire. Wielding this power with much care and love, they have performed countless recitals in retirement homes, hospitals, and care centers, as well as a benefit concert for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. During Dal Duo’s 10-year sabbatical from each other to pursue degrees at Harvard University, The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory, and Rice University, they continued to bring their music to retirement homes together whenever possible. With the growth, confidence, and humility gleaned from the past decade, Dal Duo is excited to start a new chapter of their career. In this new chapter, Dal Duo commits to taking an active part in shaping the future of the music industry by creating space for and amplifying voices of historically underrepresented voices through commissions, and by offering unique, stimulating, and accessible concert experiences.
Dal / 달 is ‘moon’ in Korean.
Dal / 달 is also part of the infinitive form of the verb 달다, meaning ‘to be sweet.’
Dal / 달 also kind of sounds like 딸, which means ‘daughter.’
Coincidentally, it is also a combination of our nicknames, Dom & Val.
Dominique Kim, flute & piano
A California native, Dominique Kim has performed solo flute and piano concerti with various orchestras across the U.S., including the San Diego Symphony. As both a pianist and flutist, Dominique is a versatile chamber musician and enjoys playing a wide range of music.
After discovering her love for orchestral playing in the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra and Harvard College Opera Society in college, Dominique participated in the 2017 New York String Orchestra Seminar, and performed in Carnegie Hall under the baton of Jaime Laredo. An active substitute with the Houston Symphony and Hartford Symphony, Dominique has also worked with influential conductors, including Gustavo Dudamel, Stéphane Denève, and Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Dominique was a 2018 Music Academy of the West Fellow and looks forward to being a Tanglewood Fellow in 2021.
Most recently, Dominique won 1st prize in the 39th annual James Pappoutsakis Memorial Flute Competition, in addition to the Fenwick Smith Memorial Prize for Best Performance of a New Work. In 2009, Dominique won first prize at the San Diego Symphony’s Young Artist Competition “Hot Shots” and performed as piano soloist with the University of San Diego’s Orchestra as part of the school’s 60th anniversary celebration. Later in the same year Dominique made her flute concerto debut with the San Diego Symphony, and performed at Washington’s Kennedy Center. Dominique was also featured at La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest 2009 & 2010 Galas, and during the live TV broadcast of “A Salute to Teachers” award show in 2008.
Dominique holds a Bachelor's Degree in History of Art & Architecture with a secondary in Germanic Languages & Literature as well as a Masters in Music through the Harvard/NEC Dual Degree program. After studying with Paula Robison at the New England Conservatory of Music, Dominique is currently pursuing further musical studies at Rice University Shepherd School of Music under the tutelage of Leone Buyse. Away from the flute, Dominique enjoys visiting museums, cooking with her family, and ice skating.
Valerie Kim, violin & piano
Praised for her “comprehensive sense of style and color” (Seen and Heard), Valerie Kim leads a colorful solo and collaborative career. At ten years old, Valerie made her piano concerto debut with the San Diego Symphony and two years later, began her studies as a double major in piano and violin at The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division. The same year, she was also selected to attend the Perlman Music Program (PMP) Summer Music School and has since performed in PMP’s residencies across the U.S. and in Israel.
Valerie has been heard in recitals and masterclasses at the Starling DeLay Symposium, PyeongChang Music Festival and School, NPR’s From the Top, the Verão Clássico Festival and Academy and in 2018, she was invited to Guri Santa Marcelina in São Paulo as a guest teaching artist. She has been featured as a piano and violin concerto soloist with The Little Orchestra Society, New City Sinfonia, and the San Diego Symphony and especially enjoys collaborating with Dominique, her flutist-pianist sister and first ever chamber music partner. The duo has performed together extensively from a young age, including concerts at the La Jolla Music Society and Ventura Music Festival, and in more intimate settings such as library poetry nights, Groupmuses, and retirement communities.
In November 2019, Valerie was invited to the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar in Tianjin and performed at the inaugural Tianjin Chamber Music Festival. In January 2020, her piano trio had the pleasure of performing in a masterclass with Robert Levin and gave the U.S. Premiere of Lee Young-Ja’s Le Pèlerinage de I’Âme at the 2020 Focus Festival. Her nurturing PMP upbringing has shaped Valerie into a devoted chamber musician and founding member of the Kila Quartet. Working closely with Roger Tapping at Juilliard and luminaries including Joel Krosnick, Merry Peckham and Donald Weilerstein at the 2018-19 PMP Chamber Music Workshop, the Kila Quartet has been featured in performances and masterclasses at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the 2019 Robert Mann String Quartet Institute, Alice Tully Hall’s Wednesdays At One Series, and WQXR’s Midday Masterpieces. The quartet diligently creates and presents interactive performances for elementary and middle school students, most recently in Long Island, NY and Sarasota, FL.
Based in New York, Valerie is pursuing her Master’s degree at The Juilliard School as a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship. She currently studies with Li Lin and Itzhak Perlman and has previously studied with Catherine Cho, Choong-Mo Kang, George Katz, Jeff Thayer, Donald Weilerstein and Rebekah Yoon, among others. Away from the violin, she likes to read, write, bake and bike.