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. As a child prodigy, Mr. Kim was featured on many national television programs including Disney’s The Mickey Mouse Club.
Mr. Kim’s 2024–25 season includes a solo appearance with The Philadelphia Orchestra in a performance of the Eight Seasons of Vivaldi and Piazzolla (the former’s The Four Seasons and the latter’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires) as well as numerous concerto, festival, and chamber music appearances across the United States, Italy (Brescia Courses), and Korea (guest concertmaster, KBS Symphony Orchestra). Each season Mr. Kim’s travels take him around the world. He has appeared with orchestras on nearly every continent including Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Central and South America, and in the United States, and with the Boston Pops Orchestra, and the Buffalo, Dallas, and Pittsburgh symphonies. Each season, in addition to his duties as concertmaster, he appears as soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra both at home and on tour.
Mr. Kim continues 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 and released 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 is a frequent touring guest of 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 Young Life, Illuminations, and the Gathering. Mr. Kim serves as distinguished artist at the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. He frequently serves as an adjudicator at international violin competitions such as the Menuhin and Sarasate.
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, ca. 1735. He exclusively performs on and endorses Larsen Strings from Denmark. He is an avid golfer, and outdoorsman.
