Catching his second woodwind

Over the past year, Kevin Kim took private flute lessons with two teachers, each of whom emphasized a different aspect of playing the instrument.

Kevin studied flute in La Cañada Flintridge for many years with Myung Kim, who was known for working on the tone of her students’ notes. When Myung Kim died this fall, Kevin began taking lessons with Jim Walker, a well-known flutist who focuses more on having his students hit clear, correct notes.

As a result of working with these two teachers with different styles, Kevin said his flute skills have improved markedly over the last few months. The techniques he’s learned from these two teachers may have helped him advance to the semifinals of this year’s Spotlight Awards, a competition for high school students that is organized by the Music Center of Los Angeles County. The Spotlight Awards seek to help high school students develop their musical skills.

“Basically, I took what I did with Mrs. Kim’s class, revamped it and took that to Spotlight,” said Kevin, 17, a junior at Crescenta Valley High School.

Kevin was one of 90 students chosen to advance to the semifinals of the competition.

The initial group of approximately 1,200 high school students from around the Southland auditioned for the Spotlight Awards in performing arts categories such as ballet, classical voice and classical instrumental.

For the Spotlight Award auditions in mid-December, Kevin played classical flute pieces for a five-judge panel. He was pleased when he heard last week that he’d advanced to the competition’s semifinals, but he was much happier when he stepped out of the audition satisfied with how he’d played.

“Most of the time, I’m not really happy with my performance,” Kevin said.

Kevin started playing the piano in kindergarten but became partial to the flute once he started playing it a few years later. For him, music from a flute can hold much more emotion than a piano.

“With the flute, when you play a single note, you have to do a lot with that single note,” Kevin said.

Piano players, in contrast, can hide less expressive playing behind more notes, Kevin said.

Kevin was in the school band at Monte Vista Elementary School and Rosemont Middle School. He played in the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra for three years and now plays in the Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra as well as in the symphony orchestra at Crescenta Valley High School.

Kevin has great flute technique, and he produces a rich tone that many high school flute players can’t make, said Mathew Schick, Kevin’s instrumental music teacher at Crescenta Valley High.

“He gets such an enormous, deep tone,” Schick said. “He’s not hesitant when he plays.”

Kevin did not get a place in Crescenta Valley High’s symphony orchestra his freshman year, in part because flute is a popular instrument at the school and there are only a limited number of flute spaces in the orchestra, Schick said. But Kevin tried out again the following year and has been an asset to the orchestra during his sophomore and junior years.

“What I admire about him is he is such a phenomenal player and such an understanding and mature student,” Schick said.

Kevin will audition a second time for the Music Center’s competition in March.

From those auditions, 12 finalists will be chosen. Those winners will be recognized at an awards gala at the Music Center in April.