Min Kym: A Music Prodigy's Inside Story

I read about Min Kym in Susan Cain’s book, Bittersweet… the story of her relationship to her 1696 Stradivarius was so remarkable and fascinating that I had to bring it to you.

Have you ever bonded with an object. A camera, car, surfboard, or in Min’s case, a musical instrument that “completes” you or becomes part of your soul. What a great sensation.

She began playing the violin at the age of six, and by age seven she was accepted as the youngest student ever at the Purcell School of Music. At age sixteen, she was the youngest ever foundation scholar at the Royal College of Music.

She was gifted a Stradivarius made in 1696 and devoted her life to making remarkable music with it. Unfortunately, in 2010, Min was eating with her boyfriend at a restaurant in a London railway station, and her violin was stolen. Kym suffered intense trauma and grief from this.

Min’s book, Gone: A Girl, A Violin, A Life Unstrung, explores her experiences when her violin was stolen when it was recovered after she had settled with her insurance company and how she now feels about how someone else owns it now.