Eric Kim

cello

Cellist Eric Kim enjoys a diverse career as a recitalist, a chamber musician, an orchestral soloist, and a teacher. He made his solo debut at age 15 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; since then, he’s been a featured soloist with the Cincinnati, Denver, and San Diego symphony orchestras, and he’s collaborated with conductors Alan Gilbert, Zubin Mehta, Paavo Järvi, Jesús López Cobos, Lawrence Foster, Sergiu Comissiona, Gianandrea Noseda, and Stanisław Skrowaczewski. He was also a featured soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra during the ensemble’s critically acclaimed tour of the Far East.

Kim served as principal cello of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from 1989 to 2009, and he held the same position with the San Diego and Denver Symphony orchestras. In the 2009–10 academic year, he began his appointment as a cello professor at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.

An active chamber musician, Kim has performed with such artists as pianists Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Stephen Hough, and Menahem Pressler; violinists Joshua Bell, Jaime Laredo, and Gil Shaham; mezzo-soprano Susan Graham; cellist Lynn Harrell; and members of the Emerson, Guarneri, and Orion string quartets. He participated in tours of Europe, South America, and Israel as a member of the Pinchas Zukerman and Friends chamber ensemble, and he made chamber music debuts at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Boston Symphony Hall, and The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, with Zukerman, violinist Itzhak Perlman, and violist Michael Tree, among others. Kim regularly performs at the chamber music festivals in Santa Fe, Angel Fire, La Jolla, and Savannah, among others, and he’s given recitals in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. His discography includes recordings for the RCA, EMI, Telarc, and Koch labels.

A dedicated teacher, Kim has students in major orchestras throughout the world. He’s a regular teacher and performer at the Aspen Music Festival and School and the Music Masters Course Japan program held in Yokohama and Tokyo.

Born to Korean parents in New York City, Eric Kim grew up in Illinois, where he began piano studies with his mother at age five. At age 10, he began cello lessons with Tanya L. Carey. He received his bachelor and master of music degrees from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Leonard Rose, Lynn Harrell, and Channing Robbins and was the first recipient of the William Schuman Prize for outstanding leadership and achievement in music.