Georgia’s Hugh Hodgson School of Music Hires New Cello Faculty

Cellist James Kim will join the school as a new assistant professor of cello in the 2024/25 school year 

Cellist James Kim will be joining the University of Georgia’s Hugh Hodgson School of Music as the new assistant professor of cello as of the 2024-25 academic year. 

He will succeed the school’s professor of cello, David Starkweather, who is retiring at the end of the spring academic year after 41 years teaching in the university’s music division. 

Kim holds an Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School, where he served as the Studio Teaching Assistant to Joel Krosnick, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the Manhattan School of Music, where he was a teaching fellow. 

He has performed solo with orchestras including the Boston Symphony and Royal Philharmonic, and with conductors such as David Zinman, Michael Sanderling, Alexander Shelley, Keith Lockhart, and Tan Dun. He has given solo recitals at Carnegie Weill Hall, The Greene Space, and Kumho Art Hall, and his performances have been broadcast on radio stations NPR and WQXR. 

In his native Korea, he has appeared with the Daegu, Korean, Gwacheon, and S.O.N.G. Symphonies; Incheon, Daejeon, and Goyang Philharmonics; and TIMF and KBS orchestras. In 2022, he served as guest principal cellist of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Kim regularly gives guest lectures at Seoul National University’s College of Music, and his private students have won top prizes at major international cello competitions. In 2020, his co-edition with Daniel Morganstern of the Locatelli Sonata in D Major for cello was published by the International Music Company. 

A champion of Korean composer Shinuh Lee, Kim premiered her Cello Concerto with Wonju Philharmonic Orchestra in 2021. In the same year, Sony Classical released his album “Death and Offering,” which presents Lee’s works dedicated to him. Recently, he gave a recital of works from the album at IBK Chamber Hall of Seoul Arts Center.

Among his accolades include major prizes at the 2015 Isang Yun International Cello Competition, first prize at the 2006 David Popper International Cello Competition, and Salon de Virtuosi’s 2012 Sony Career Grant.

From 2016 to 2021, he performed on a c.1715 Matteo Goffriller cello from Venice, generously loaned by the Samsung Cultural Foundation and Stradivari Society of Chicago, Illinois. 

“James Kim brings an exceptionally high levels of artistry and teaching to the Hugh Hodgson School of Music faculty, and we look forward to welcoming him to the Hodgson school and UGA,” said Director Pete Jutras in the press release. “We are excited to see the impact he will have on our students and programs.”

“I am proud to join the incredible faculty of Hugh Hodgson School of Music and the vibrant campus of University of Georgia,” Kim expressed. “It is my honor to be part of a community that not only achieves excellence but also participates in society within and beyond its state borders. I look forward to guiding students toward their goals and sharing the lessons I’ve learned in the process.”