CCM Wind Symphony welcomes faculty and guest artists in Sept. 19 concert

Sooyun Kim joined CCM's faculty as Assistant Professor of Flute on Aug. 15, 2025.

Described by the French newspaper Libération as “a rare virtuoso of the flute,” Kim has earned distinction as one of the rare flute soloists on today’s classical music scene. She made her concerto debut at age 10 with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and has since appeared with renowned ensembles including the Bavarian Radio Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Munich Chamber, Boston Pops and KBS Symphony Orchestras. Her recital engagements have taken her to prestigious venues such as Budapest’s Liszt Hall, the Kennedy Center, Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy, Kobe’s Bunka Hall and the Seoul Arts Center. Her European debut recital at the Louvre Museum was broadcast live on medici.tv.

A recipient of the Georg Solti Foundation Career Grant, Kim has garnered numerous international honors, including third prize and the special award for best performance of a commissioned work at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich.

An avid chamber musician, Kim is an alumna of the Bowers Program at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, where she continues to appear as an Artist Member both at Lincoln Center and on tours across the U.S. and abroad. She is a frequent guest at leading festivals such as Music@Menlo, Spoleto USA, Yellow Barn, Rockport, Chamber Music Northwest, Olympic, Charlottesville, Music in the Vineyard, Camerata Pacifica, Ravinia and Tanglewood.

Dedicated to interdisciplinary collaboration and education, Kim has worked with a wide range of artists and institutions, including Sol Lewitt, Samuel Bak, Brother Thomas, Tivoli Dance Troupes, BodyVox, the Pucker Gallery, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Glassmuseet Ebeltoft in Denmark. She studied at the New England Conservatory with Paula Robison and received Baroque Dance training from Melinda Sullivan. Previously, she has served on the faculty of the Longy School of Music of Bard College and teaches at Orford Musique each summer.

Kim performs on a rare 18-karat gold flute made especially for her by Verne Q. Powell Flutes and has recorded for labels including ArtistLed, Naxos, Toccata Classics and BR-Klassik. Her upcoming album, Confluence, is set for release in June 2025 on the Musica Solis label.

Beyond music, Kim is also a certified wine professional, having earned her Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Level 3 certification in Wine.

Joel Puckett is a composer leaving both audiences and the press buzzing. His music has been described as, “soaringly lyrical” (Minneapolis Star Tribune), “Puccini-esque” (Wall Street Journal), and “containing a density within a clarity, polyphony within the simple and – most importantly – beautiful and seemingly spiritual.” (Audiophile Audition). Parterre Box recently proclaimed, “Puckett should be a household name” and the Philadelphia Inquirer’s David Patrick Stearns mused, “if the name Joel Puckett isn’t etched into your brain, it should be.” In 2011 NPR Music listed him as one of the top 100 composers under 40 in the world.

Hailed as “visionary” (Washington Post) and “an astonishingly original voice” (Philadelphia Inquirer), his music is performed by the leading artists of our day and is consistently recognized by organizations such as the American Composers Forum, BMI, Chorus America, National Public Radio, and the American Bandmasters Association.

Puckett’s music attracts diverse performers and listeners through its emotional energy and commitment. Melding tradition with innovation, his distinctive style grows from his power to create transcendent experiences using charismatic musical language.

The Fix, a grand opera commissioned by Minnesota Opera, premiered in the March 2019 to packed houses, enthusiastic audiences, and largely effusive praise. With a libretto by Academy Award and Tony Award winner, Eric Simonson, the work depicts the rise and fall of the 1919 Chicago White Sox. It is a tragedy ripe with power, romance and redemption, set against the backdrop of America’s favorite pastime. Puckett’s earlier commissions have been premiered and performed worldwide, to exuberant critical acclaim.

His double concerto for clarinet, flute and orchestra, Concerto Duo, was premiered by the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra in 2012, when Puckett was Composer-in- Residence with soloists Anthony McGill and Demarre McGill. The Chicago Tribune’s John von Rhein praised the piece, saying that it, “soar[ed] in intertwining dialogues, jazzy and lyrical, with shimmering waves of post-minimalism.”

His flute concerto, The Shadow of Sirius, premiered in 2010 and has received more than 200 performances and been recorded multiple times, including 2015’s Naxos Surround Sound disc, “Shadow of Sirius,” which received a 2016 Grammy Nomination. Currently the Chair of Music Theory, Ear Training, and Piano Skills at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore where he has received a 2022 Johns Hopkins Catalyst Award, the 2022 Johns Hopkins Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award, and the 2021 Peabody Conservatory Student Affairs Mental Health Ally Award, Puckett presents workshops nationwide and frequently serves as an adjudicator at competitions for rising composers. His music is represented worldwide by Bill Holab Music.

Randell Bertsche is the band director at Conner Middle School in Hebron, Kentucky. He earned his Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His ensembles have performed at the 2022 Kentucky Music Education Association Conference and in collaboration with the Cincinnati Wind Band. Bertsche is a GRAMMY Music Educator Quarter-Finalist, and a recipient of the KMEA District 6 Middle School Teacher of the Year Award. He currently serves as Co-President and Principal Clarinet of the Cincinnati Wind Band. His professional affiliations include the National Association for Music Education, Kentucky Music Education Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and the American School Band Directors Association.