Kyu-Young Kim

Kyu-Young Kim, Principal Violin of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, is widely recognized for his dynamic performances as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader. His appointment as the SPCO’s Artistic Director in January 2016 was the first time a playing member had been tapped to take the artistic helm of a major American orchestra. He served in that artistic leadership role from 2016 to 2024 while continuing to play in the ensemble. During his tenure, the SPCO won a Grammy for its recording of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden Quartet, hired ten world renowned Artistic Partners, and recruited a new generation of talented musicians to the SPCO. Under Kim’s leadership, the ensemble toured to great critical acclaim throughout the U.S. and Europe, and launched an exciting commissioning initiative called Sandbox Composer Residencies which gives a diverse group of accomplished composers unprecedented workshop time to innovate and develop new works for chamber orchestra.

Previously, Kim has toured throughout the world as a founding member of the Daedalus Quartet with whom he won the Grand Prize at the 2001 Banff International String Quartet Competition and performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. As a former member of the Pacifica String Quartet, Mr. Kim won the prestigious Naumburg Chamber Music Award. He has appeared as soloist with the Korea Broadcasting System (KBS) Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Poland. He has also served as guest concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra, and is an Emeritus Member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

What is different about performing with the SPCO versus other ensembles? “We play such a wide range of music and work with such interesting Artistic Partners. Other great chamber orchestras tend to be specialists, but we can play an amazing Baroque week with someone like Artistic Partner Richard Egarr, then do a world premiere and a Beethoven symphony the next week, and play chamber music with Jeremy Denk the week after that. You have to be able to turn on a dime in this orchestra, which makes it very challenging but also super fun and rewarding.”