Success plays out for Duluth violin maker

Okkyum Kim's talent for instrument-making is so big, his boss gave him a raise three months early.

"He was due for a big raise in January, but I went ahead and gave it to him," said Dixie Huthmaker, owner of Huthmaker Violins in downtown Duluth. "He earned it."

After all, it's not every day that a metro Atlanta violin maker wins in the International Triennale Competition of Stringed Instrument Making.

Held once every three years in Italy, the Triennale is one of the most prestigious violin-making competitions in the world. This year, it gave a nod to just one other American besides Kim, who won a bronze award for his viola, a stringed instrument slightly larger than the violin.

"In the violin world, it's huge," Huthmaker said. "It's kind of like getting the bronze in the Olympics."

More than 330 violin makers from about 30 countries presented 479 instruments in the competition beginning in late September in Cremona. That's the birthplace of Antonio Stradivari, widely regarded as the most famous violin maker of all time.

Ten judges handed out gold, silver and bronze awards for violins, violas, cellos and double bass.

"It's like a dream of the violin makers," said Kim, who immigrated to the United States three years ago from Chungju, South Korea.

A classical pianist in his teen years, Kim was drawn to instrument making in 1999, when he met a violinist in Sydney, Australia. From there, he studied under two violin makers and tried to hone his skills using books on the subject. To learn the craft like a pro, though, Kim entered the violin-making school in Cremona in 2003.

Kim is 34 years old, and he said that makes him an anomaly in this field. "Most violin makers are old people because it's so hard to learn," he said.

On average, it takes Kim three months to fashion the instruments made mostly of maple and spruce. He uses his hands, tiny knives and sanders to gingerly carve out, shape and create clean lines for the fanciful fiddles. For a competition-worthy instrument, the process can take up to a year, he said.

"It's very creative," said Kim, flashing a wide smile and toothy grin. "When I finish the instrument ... it's like the trees can be singing."

Christopher Germain of Philadelphia, the only American judge in this year's Triennale, said judges score the instruments for high caliber of artistry, workmanship and style; execution of the arching; quality of the varnish; and, of course, the sound.

"It's a great moment for a maker to be afforded that kind of recognition," said Germain, a violin maker himself for more than 25 years.

In fact, the Triennale demands such attention to detail that judges on occasion won't hand out gold medals, he said.

This isn't the first time Kim has won big in competitions. Last year, he won a gold medal for a violin in a Querétaro, Mexico, competition. In 2006, he garnered a certificate of merit from the Violin Society of America.

Kim frequently repairs instruments at Huthmaker Violins on Main Street, where he's worked for the past three years. But he reserves the instrument making for his workshop at home, where he can be with his wife and 17-month-old daughter.