Bridging Code and Cadence: The Interdisciplinary World of Daeun Kim

When I first sat down with Daeun Kim, I wasn’t sure which version of her I’d meet. Was she the classical violinist who has played solo recitals since childhood? The Stanford-trained engineer who’s coded for Pixar and Google? Or the quiet innovator redefining what it means to be both artist and technologist?

As it turns out, you don’t have to choose.

Kim is not easily boxed in. One day, she’s debugging animation tools for a major film studio. The next, she’s rehearsing Bach’s Chaconne in a sunlit practice room on campus. And between it all, she’s designing new systems that live at the intersection of sound, computation, and creativity.

Most people wouldn’t think to connect machine learning with musical phrasing. But Kim doesn’t think in silos. She draws connections between disciplines the way a composer might write counterpoint—separate voices in dialogue with each other.

“I’ve always been fascinated by patterns,” she tells me, her violin case leaning casually against her desk. “Whether it's in a musical score or a string of code, there’s a beauty in structure. And also in breaking it.”

Raised on a steady mix of concertos and curiosity, Kim began playing the violin at age five. But alongside her music studies, she was also teaching herself to code.

By the time she arrived at Stanford, those questions became prototypes. She built interactive sound installations, designed generative compositions, and collaborated with researchers and designers across the university. Her blend of technical and artistic fluency caught the attention of some of the biggest names in tech.

At Pixar, she worked on animation tools. At Google, she contributed to internal platforms for creative development. Even in these high-tech environments, she never lost sight of her artistic lens.

Whether she’s performing Brahms or experimenting with AI-generated duets, Kim approaches the violin as more than an instrument. To her, it’s an interface. A way to converse with both the past and the future.

Her current work focuses on interactive performance systems. She’s building tools where real-time inputs—like motion, biometric data, or audience feedback—can shape music as it's performed. Imagine a violin concerto that changes with your heartbeat. Or an improvisation that listens to you. "Through systems or processes or in creative direction, I'm always thinking about ways to bring people together."

That mindset feels especially relevant now. As the boundaries between art, tech, and identity continue to shift, creators like Daeun Kim are showing that innovation doesn't always mean disruption. Sometimes, it means reimagining what already exists. Sometimes, it begins with Bach, sometimes it ends in a browser window, and sometimes it ends with a script of the next movie she's planning.

And that’s Daeun Kim. Equal parts virtuoso, engineer, and explorer. Someone who doesn’t just perform music, but reshapes the way we experience it.