Dennis Kim

A citizen of the world, Dennis Kim was born in Korea, raised in Canada and educated in the United States. He has spent more than a decade leading orchestras in the United States, Europe and Asia. He was first appointed concertmaster of the Tucson Symphony at the age of 22. He then served as the youngest concertmaster in the history of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, before going on to lead the Seoul Philharmonic and the Tampere Philharmonic in Finland. Most recently, he was concertmaster of the Buffalo Philharmonic in New York. As guest concertmaster, Mr. Kim has performed on four continents, leading the BBC Symphony, London Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Quatar Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lille, KBS Symphony, Montpelier Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, Western Australia Symphony and Symphony Orchestra of Navarra.

After making his solo debut at the age of 14 with the Toronto Philharmonic, Dennis Kim has gone on to perform as a soloist with all of the most important orchestras in Asia. Recent highlights include performing Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" at the Rockport Chamber Music Festival and presenting the first concert featuring the music of John Williams in Havana, Cuba with the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba. During his tenure as concertmaster with the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Tampere Philharmonic, he was featured annually as a soloist. Over the last few seasons, he was a guest soloist with the Lebanon Philharmonic and the Orchestra NOW, with repertoire ranging from Mozart and Haydn to Glass and Penderecki.

A dedicated teacher, Dennis Kim serves on the faculty of the University of California Irvine and the Orange County School of the Arts. This summer, Kim joins the faculty of the Brevard Music Center. Previously he was on the faculty of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Korean National University of the Arts, Yonsei University, Tampere Conservatory and the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. In the summers, Kim has taught and performed at the the Interlochen Center for the Arts as Valade Concertmaster in the World Youth Symphony Orchestra summer program, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and the Atlantic Music Festival. His students have been accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music, Colburn School, Juilliard School, Peabody Conservatory and the Queen Elizabeth College of Music. Former students play in orchestras around the world including the Seoul Philharmonic, KBS Symphony, Monte-Carlo Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lille, and Pacific Symphony.

An active chamber musician, Dennis Kim can be heard regularly at the Cafe Ludwig series and is the violinist of Trio Barclay, the first Ensemble-in-Residence of the Irvine Barclay Theatre. Additionally he can be heard on the soundtracks of movies such as Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, Jumanji II, The Lego Movie 2 and It Chapter Two.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Yale School of Music, Kim's teachers include Jaime Laredo, Aaron Rosand, Peter Oundjian, Paul Kantor, Victor Danchenko and Yumi Ninomiya Scott. He plays the 1701 ex-Dushkin Stradivarius, on permanent loan from a generous donor.