Sujin first began her violin studies with Alice Waten at the Australian Institute of Music as a scholarship holder on the Young Musicians Programme. After graduating from high school, Sujin put music on hold and studied law and business administration for two years. However, her love of music drew her back to the violin and she went on to study with Goetz Richter at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2009.
Sujin subsequently moved to London to study at the Royal College of Music, graduating with first class bachelor’s and master’s degrees as an ABRSM scholar and later a Frederick Johnson Scholar, supported by a Greenbank Award and the Lydia Napper Award.
Sujin has won numerous awards, notably first prize in the Dorcas McClean Travelling Scholarship Competition (2009), finalist and prize-winner in the Royal Overseas League Competition (2012), first prize of the Jeunesses International Violin Competition (2012) and winner of the two-year loan of a modern Bergonzi violin in the Michael Hill International Violin Competition (2013). In 2012, Sujin was also selected to take part in the London Symphony Orchestra String Experience Scheme.
Participating in festivals in the US and in Israel, Sujin has enjoyed being involved in many chamber projects and performances and has had the opportunity to perform in many venues around the globe, her most recent appearance as a soloist with the Little Chamber Orchestra in London.
What do you love about classical music?
I find the depth of emotion and character, as well as the profound way in which it can bring people together without any words, amazing. And it’s just so fascinating how even one phrase can hold such different meaning to different people, and from there, how one piece can be told in such unique ways by different artists.
But aside from all that, classical music just moves my soul more than anything. There are moments when I’m practising where I have to pause because I’ve been so overwhelmed by a melody or harmonic progression.
What or who inspired you to become a professional musician?
More than any particular person, it was during my two year break from music and the violin that I came to realise how much I actually missed and loved playing.
What is your most embarrassing or amusing musical moment?
In a competition, I was drawn as the first contestant and opened with Paganini Caprice No. 17 which starts with a unison E flat. Very dangerous. And what could have gone wrong… went wrong. More than being mortified, I felt so sorry for the audience. My professor and I still shake our heads over it.