Hailed as a “highly skilled improviser” by the New York Times and “prickly and explosive” by the Montreal Gazette, Tae Kim’s rare blend of rigorous execution and whimsical styling creates an interpretation of the classical repertoire all his own. Tae’s recent program “words/not-words”, dichotomy between texts and music in piano literature, features not only his classical improvisation on children’s novel “Llama Llama Red Pajama” by Anna Dewdney but traditional repertoire ranging from Robert Schumann’s programmatic compositions to haiku-inspired pieces by Philippe Hersant. His unique talent for classical improvisation earned him “Prix d’interprétation André Chevillion–Yvonne Bonnaud” for the premiere of his work, “Translate (2016)” at the 12e Concours international de piano d’Orléans, as well as “Prix–Mention Spéciale Edison Denisov.” Part of the Piano at South Station, Tae regularly played on Thursdays in the middle of a train station amidst the confused if not pleased onlookers and travelers. An avid collaborator, Tae regularly performs with Aliana de la Guardia, Augustine Gonzales, Tom Holdener and is the pianist for the New England-based Revere Piano Quartet with Jin-Kyung Joen, Ron Gorevic, and Eugene Kim. He has studied with Jonathan Bass, Bruce Brubaker, Janice Webber, and Patricia Zander.