Violinist David Kim was named concertmaster of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1999. Born in Carbondale, Illinois, in 1963, he started playing the violin at the age of three, began studies with the famed pedagogue Dorothy DeLay at the age of eight, and later received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School of Music.
Mr. Kim’s 2025–26 season opens with solo and guest concertmaster engagements in Korea and Hong Kong, followed by featured performances with The Philadelphia Orchestra, leading a conductorless program of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and performing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto during a subscription week under guest conductor Rafael Payare. Mr. Kim’s season also includes concerto, recital, and chamber music appearances throughout North and South America. In the summer he returns to the Aspen Music Festival and School as both faculty and concertmaster, and he serves as concertmaster of the Mainly Mozart Festival All-Star Orchestra in San Diego.
Mr. Kim serves as distinguished artist at the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. Each year he presents master classes around the world at conservatories and schools such as the Australian National Academy of Music, the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, the Shanghai Conservatory, and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. He also serves as an adjudicator at international violin competitions such as the Menuhin and Sarasate.
Mr. Kim will continue to appear as concertmaster of the nine-time Emmy Award–winning All-Star Orchestra on PBS stations across the United States and online at the Khan Academy. His first book, The Audition Method for Violin, was published by GIA Publications in 2022. This long-awaited collection of standard orchestral excerpts walks the reader through each work with his suggestions on execution, audition strategy, bowings, and fingerings. Mr. Kim has frequently appeared with famed modern hymn writers Keith and Kristyn Getty at venues such as the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Carnegie Hall. He is also a regular performer around the nation at events for ministries such as the Gathering, Illuminations, Missionary Athletes International, and Young Life.
Mr. Kim has been awarded honorary doctorates from Eastern University in suburban Philadelphia, the University of Rhode Island, and Dickinson College. His instruments are a J.B. Guadagnini from Milan, ca. 1757, on loan from The Philadelphia Orchestra, and a Francesco Gofriller from Venice, ca. 1735. He exclusively performs on and endorses Larsen Strings from Denmark. He is an avid golfer and outdoorsman.
