Min kym stradivarius
- •
The tragic tale of a prodigy’s stolen violin
Features correspondent
Min Kym was a violin prodigy on the cusp of a glittering career when her treasured instrument was stolen. Clemency Burton-Hill explains what happened next.
In 2013, I was given the opportunity of a lifetime: to make a film about Antonio Stradivari, the most revered violin maker in history. I was able to hold and examine some of the most prized musical instruments ever created, and talk to leading experts in my quest to try and solve the fundamental enigma of his genius.
And then, in a moment I’ll never forget, I was actually allowed to play a Stradivarius: his earliest known instrument, the Serdet, which dates from 1666. It probably sounds dramatic, but suddenly I understood why Stradivarius is Stradivarius. I knew that if I could play this violin every day for the rest of my life, it still wouldn’t be enough. To have to put it back in its case after the cameras stopped rolling was a wrench.
- •
Child prodigy whose life fell apart when a thief stole her £1.2m violin: Catastrophic loss of the instrument led to ANOREXIA, a broken relationship and the end of her glittering career
So palpable is her pain, she could be talking about a lost child, a departed parent, or even a former lover.
‘The truth is I try not to think about it too much,’ Min-Jin Kym admits, becoming upset even at the memory. ‘You can drive yourself mad. It’s like if the love of your life is with someone else. You can’t bear to think about it.’
But the 38-year-old isn’t referring to a person. She’s talking about a musical instrument — her £1.2 million Stradivarius violin, stolen while she picked up a coffee and a sandwich in a Pret A Manger seven years ago.
The extent of Min Kym’s distress may be hard to comprehend for non-musicians, but for the former child prodigy who was born in South Korea but moved to London as a young child, the loss was catastrophic.
Min-Jin Kym's life fell apart when her 315-year-old Stradivarius was stolen from a Pret A Manger in Manchester in 2010
The anorexia she suffere
- •
Min Kym began playing the violin at age six. By her teens, she was a full-blown phenomenon, garnering awards and attention, until her career took an unexpected turn.
Why you should listen
At age seven, violinist Min Kym was given a full scholarship at the Purcell School of Music in the UK, becoming the school's youngest-ever pupil. By age 11, she had won first prize at the Premier Mozart International Competition. And by 13, she was playing with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. At the age of 16, she became the youngest student ever to receive a Foundation Scholarship at the Royal College of Music. Many awards followed.
In 2010, tragedy struck -- Kym's violin, a 1696 Stradivarius, was stolen. Traumatized and unable to play, her career fell apart. In 2013, the violin was recovered, but the story was far from over. Her book, Gone, and her album of the same name tell the story of the intense bond an artist forms with their one "true" instrument.
Kym has just released new music: Minka, a neo-classical project co-written with Dru Masters, an award-winning composer for film and TV.
Copyright ©mudmind.pages.dev 2025