Upon hearing the glorious first notes of Bach’s First Suite for Unaccompanied Cello played by his kindergarten teacher, cellist Connor Kim immediately fell deeply in love with music and the instrument. After incessantly begging his parents for lessons and a cello for two years, they finally acquiesced and it came to be that he would start the incredible journey of music making. Described by the San Francisco Classical Voice as being “the biggest coup of the evening,” Connor is dedicated to creating a welcome space for audience members to come and feel the life-changing power of live music through his art.
Committed to sharing the diverse nature of music as a genre, Mr. Kim has championed works from Bach to Marsalis. He has made several world premieres such as Chinese Composer Dai Bo’s “Differences and Repetition,” a piece commissioned by The Juilliard School for Focus! 2018. Connor enjoys the versatility of music in all settings and has collaborated with a wide range of other disciplines such as film and dance. He has been featured in the soundtrack of Nora Unkel’s film “A Nightmare Wakes (2020)” and has performed Mendelssohn’s Octet for Strings with dancers in “D Man in the Waters” by Bill T. Jones. Connor made his acting debut on Broadway as a part of a live onstage cast of musicians in “Because I Could Not Stop: An Encounter with Emily Dickinson,” through affiliation with the Ensemble for the Romantic Century. His adventures have given him opportunities to perform at a wide variety of venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and Stern Auditorium, Alice Tully Hall, David Geffen Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, Disney Hall, Hwang In Young’s MusicSpace Camerata, the Seoul Arts Center, WQXR’s Greene Space, and Brooklyn’s Bargemusic. A firm believer that any space is fit for music, Mr. Kim also enjoys performing in cafes and smaller intimate settings.
Accolades and achievements include winning top prizes at the Schadt National Competition for Strings, the Anton Rubinstein Academy International Competition, and the Fremont Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition. He made his debut with the Fremont Symphony Orchestra performing Dvorak’s Cello Concerto at their 50th Season Gala.
Connor is a passionate chamber musician and has performed with world-renowned artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Roger Tapping, Atar Arad, and Hsin Yun Huang. Festival appearances include Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Music@Menlo’s International Program, Kneisel Hall, the Perlman Music Program, Kronberg Academy Cello Masterclasses, and IMS Prussia Cove. He has performed and worked with various ensembles such as the New York Classical Players, Ensemble Salome, Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, and is a principal cellist for The Roosevelt Island Orchestra.
Connor completed both his Bachelors and Masters degrees at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Joel Krosnick and Timothy Eddy. He is currently serving as a faculty assistant for Joel Krosnick, and is enrolled in Juilliard’s Artist Diploma program. Connor gratefully plays on a Becker cello on loan by the Colburn Foundation.
“What followed was one of the more vigorous and expressively varied performances of this rhapsodic concerto that I’ve heard.” - San Francisco Classical Voice/Dvorak Cello Concerto in B minor
https://www.sfcv.org/articles/review/son-gun-fremont-symphony-still-blazes-and-amazes