By Monique Brooks Roberts | May 27, 2026
Yumi Hwang-Williams still sounds amazed by music.
After 26 years as concertmaster of the Colorado Symphony and decades spent performing some of the most demanding music ever written — she speaks about orchestral performance with genuine wonder.
“There are 80-plus musicians on that stage,” she reflected during our conversation, “and everybody plays differently. Yet somehow, together, we make it happen.”
For Hwang-Williams, that magic has never faded.
Born in Seoul, South Korea, she immigrated to the United States with her family at age nine and grew up in South Philadelphia. Though she considers herself “an American violinist,” music was woven into her life long before she ever picked up a violin in fifth grade at Philadelphia’s Girard Academic Music Program.
“I was a natural singer from very early on,” she said. Korean folk songs, pop music and daily music classes during her childhood in Korea all helped shape her instincts. At family gatherings, she and her brother would often perform for relatives — sometimes earning a little money for their efforts.
“Perhaps already setting me up to becoming a professional musician?” she joked.
As we celebrate AAPI Heritage Month, Hwang-Williams points listeners toward the work of Korean composer Isang Yun, whose music blends Western avant-garde techniques with traditional Korean musical elements. Though internationally celebrated, Yun’s life was marked by political persecution, imprisonment and exile because of his advocacy for a unified Korea.
“His music is very dear to me,” she shared.