Violin Peak Performance
About
Take your violin playing to the next level in a focused, academic environment designed for dedicated young artists. The Violin Peak Performance immerses students in rigorous technical study through daily practice, multiple private lessons, studio performance classes, and guest masterclasses. Guided listening sessions explore historic recordings and core interpretive concepts such as tone, vibrato, phrasing, and bow distribution, while wellness seminars introduce healthy practice habits, stretching, and injury-prevention strategies. Students gain practical insight into audition preparation, competition mindset, and leadership roles such as concertmaster. Culminating in solo and duo performances, the program fosters disciplined artistry, intellectual curiosity, and the confidence to excel on the concert stage.
Ideal for advanced violinists ages 14 – 24.
2026 Faculty
Violinist Eun-song Koh is a seasoned performer and highly accomplished educator, widely recognized for her expertise in nurturing young talent and cultivating musical excellence. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree under David Updegraff and Jan Mark Sloman, she went on to earn a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University, where she was honored with the Eckstein Fund Grant and the Grace Fox Congdon Scholarship for outstanding musical and academic achievement. Koh’s pedagogical approach was deeply shaped by her years as a teaching assistant to the esteemed violinist Jan Mark Sloman, where she had the privilege of learning from his expert understanding of both performance and teaching.
Koh has toured internationally, performing as concertmaster of the Orford Music Festival Orchestra, including a tour to South Korea, and as principal second violinist of the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, with performances in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Her chamber music experience spans various settings, having worked with members of the Emerson String Quartet, Tokyo String Quartet, Miami String Quartet, Cavani String Quartet, and Dover Quartet, among others.
As a teacher, Koh has held positions at institutions like the Interlochen Summer Arts Academy, where she served on the faculty and coached chamber music, and Bolivia Clásica, where she taught, led workshops, and performed. Her students have achieved notable success, including multiple top finishes in the MTNA National Competition in both junior and senior divisions, first-place prizes in concerto competitions, and invitations to international competitions like the Spohr International Competition. Her students have also received honors at the Chicago International Violin Competition.
Koh’s students have been accepted into and gone on to study at prestigious institutions such as the Juilliard School, Colburn School, New England Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music, Northwestern University, University of Southern California, and top universities such as Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, and Brown University. With a teaching style that balances rigor and encouragement, Koh emphasizes not only technical skill and musicality but also the resilience, discipline, and dedication needed to excel as a violinist.
Through her years of experience, Koh has become known for her thoughtful and inspiring mentorship, continuing to shape and motivate the next generation of violinists.
Malcolm Lowe led the Boston Symphony Orchestra as concertmaster for 35 years with three iconic music directors, Seiji Ozawa, James Levine, and Andris Nelsons. Mr Lowe gravitated to the concertmaster chair at a very young age. The breadth and scope that accompanies the concertmaster position at any level has been a constant in his musical life since that time. The innumerable concerts, worldwide tours and recordings with the Boston Symphony and Boston Symphony Chamber Players, concertos, chamber music, recitals, and teaching are all parts of this diverse career that continue to be an inspiration to him and others. Mr. Lowe became renowned for his sound, eloquence, musicianship and leadership in the complexities of being a concertmaster. Christoph von Dohnanyi said of Malcolm, “ You really own the chair.”
Mr. Lowe appeared frequently as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, performing Bruch, Mozart, Brahms, Chausson, Haydn, Vivaldi, Bach, Walton, Saint-Saens, Spohr, Britten, and Berlioz, at Symphony and Tanglewood and he returned many times to his native Canada for guest appearances as soloist with the Toronto, Montreal, Vancover symphony orchestras and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa as well as other orchestras across Canada. Mr. Lowe was the recipient of many awards, he won third prize in the prestigious 1979 Montreal International Violin Competition while he was concertmaster of the Quebec Symphony Orchestra. Prior to his position with the Quebec Symphony, Mr Lowe was the concertmaster of the Regina Sympnony after he graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music. Mr. Lowe received an honorary doctorate from the University of Regina. While at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Mr Lowe was a faculty member at the Tanglewood Music Center, New England Conservatory and Boston University. He is presently a faculty member at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Born to musical parents, his father was a violinist, his mother a vocalist, on a farm in Hamiota, Manitoba. Mr. Lowe still considers his parents as his most significant musical influence. Mr. Lowe moved with his family to Regina, Saskatchewan, at the age of nine. There he studied at the Regina Conservatory of Music with Howard Leyton-Brown, former concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra and former pupil of Max Rostal and Carl Flesch. Mr Lowe studied with Ivan Galamian at the Meadowmount School of Music and with Mr Galamian and Jaime Laredo at the Curtis Institute of Music. Mr Lowe also studied violin with Sally Thomas and was greatly influenced by Josef Gingold, Felix Galimir, Alexander Schneider and Jascha Brodsky.
Mr. Lowe’s love and passion for music permeates all of his continued musical activities, recitals, chamber music, and teaching younger generations of musicians through unique private teaching and masterclasses. Mr. Lowe has also found his participation in summer festivals and on the juries of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and the Montreal Violin Competition to be very inspiring and a connection to the remarkable young violinists who are moving the art of violin playing forward. A mainstay of the musical message and belief that Mr. Lowe embraces, from generation to generation, is communicating soulful, moving, music making and he is committed to that message by giving as much as possible from his vast expertise, experience, and insight.
Mr. Lowe is currently on faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music and continues his violin teaching concertmaster coaching which is an extension of his distinguished career and singular perspective. Mr. Lowe is developing a new strong joint teaching studio with Ms Eun-song Koh at the Cleveland Institute of Music focusing on violin playing and performance. As part of his teaching, Mr. Lowe will be starting a concentrated concertmaster course of study.
Dates:
Arrival: June 22, 2026
Program dates: June 22 – 27, 2026
Concerts: June 26 and June 27, 2026
Sample Day
- 8:15am Breakfast
- 9:00am 12:00pm Lessons or Individual Practice
- 12:00pm Lunch
- 1:30pm Scales and Etudes
- 2:30pm Break
- 2:45pm Masterclasses/Studio Class
- 4:00pm Individual practice time
- 5:00pm Music Enrichment Course
- 6:00pm Dinner
7:30pm Social Activity/Free Time
Tuition & Fees
Application fees are non-refundable
$25 application fee February 28
$40 application fee March 1 – April 1
- Tuition: $1200
- Housing: $420
- Dining: $360
Applicants are encouraged to apply early as selected participants may be selected on a rolling basis
- February 20 - Priority Review Deadline
- March 1 – Priority Notification
- March 15 - Financial Aid application due
- April 1 – Final Deadline
- April 1 - $300 non-refundable enrollment deposit is due upon accepting your admission offer. This deposit will be applied toward the total tuition due.
Financial aid is available to CIM Summer Institute participants and is primarily need-based and merit-informed. Applicants may request to be considered for financial aid at the time of application.
Upon acceptance to a program, students will receive information on how to complete the financial aid application. Awards are determined by committee prior to the start of the program and may cover up to the full cost of attendance. Any financial aid award is subject to revision or proration if registration details or student status change.
Limited funds are available; early application is encouraged. For questions about financial assistance, please email CIMSummerInstitute@cim.edu
All travel expenses are the responsibility of the participant. All students are required to pay the CIM Summer Institute dining fee, regardless of whether they use on-campus housing.
For international students: proof of visa requirements for entry to the USA are required at the time of acceptance of admission offer.
Application Requirements
Auditions for the CIM Violin Intensive are by recorded audition only - there will be no live auditions.
Each applicant is required to submit a recording of:
- One movement of a standard concerto from the Romantic or 20th-century periods or a virtuosic showpiece
- A movement from a solo Bach sonata or partita
- Rode Etude No. 6
- Repertoire list
- Teacher letter of recommendation