CU senior music major wins annual Edward M. Murray arts scholarship

David Kim, a Cornell senior majoring in music and a pianist, is the 2002-03 recipient of the Edward M. Murray Committee on the Arts Scholarship.

Kim, a Cornell Presidential Scholar and native of Syracuse, came to Cornell in 1999 to study keyboard techniques with renowned pianist and music teacher Malcolm Bilson, the F.J. Whiton Professor of Music. Bilson said that Kim is destined to make his mark in the musical world.

"David is among a handful of highly talented undergraduates of the last 30 years who will doubtless make an important contribution to the musical life of this country," Bilson said. "With his keen mind and first-class pianism, David is a fitting recipient for an award in Ed Murray's honor."

The Edward M. Murray Committee on the Arts Scholarship is presented annually to undergraduate majors in arts and culture-related programs. The scholarship provides financial assistance for artists showing exceptional promise in their field.

Murray, who died in 2000, was a Cornell professor of music theory as well as conductor, composer and pianist. The COA established the award in 2000, through the guidance of alumnus James Byrnes '63, MBA '64, CEO Tompkins Trust Co., and Elizabeth Trapnell Rawlings. Committee members work with the Cornell Council for the Arts to support and promote the arts at Cornell and among alumni by honoring an outstanding student artist and a distinguished alumni artist each year.

Kim is working on a senior honors thesis and recital. He plans to continue his musical studies in graduate school as both a pianist and a musicologist. This is not the first time Kim's talents have been recognized: He has received the Cornell Department of Music's 2001-02 Otto R. Stahl Memorial Prize as well as the music department's 2002-03 Ellen Gussman Adelson Music Scholarship.

His other honors and awards include the Urkunde Certificate from the Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany, through the Cornell German studies department.