Violist James Kang is an inviting performer and artist-teacher who creates meaningful connections with audiences across the U.S. and abroad. James is the founding violist of the Abeo Quartet which was formed at Juilliard in 2018 and has been featured at Alice Tully Hall, The Kennedy Center, and Norway’s Vertavo Festival. James is currently pursuing his DMA studies at Northwestern University as the Teaching Assistant of Prof. Helen Callus, and received his bachelor’s degree at The Juilliard School as a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship.
As a soloist, James won top prizes at the American Viola Society Solo Competition and the ASTA National Solo Competition, and recently was named a winner of the Chicago Federation of Musicians Scholarship and Evanston Music Club Scholarship. In 2023, he performed Hindemith’s Der Schwanendreher Viola Concerto with the University of Delaware Symphony Orchestra. James performs with orchestras including Chicago Philharmonic and Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, and has served as Principal Violist for The Juilliard and Symphony in C orchestras. He has attended summer programs such as Music@Menlo, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Perlman Music Program, Aspen Music Festival, and NYO-USA.
As an avid chamber musician, James has collaborated with musicians such as Itzhak Perlman, Joseph Kalichstein, and Donald Weilerstein. Season highlights for Abeo Quartet include returning to perform at the Kennedy Center and being the Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at Caramoor which entails a yearlong residency that includes outreach to young listeners.
Dedicated to cultivating joy in his audiences, James is also active in community outreach and has participated in engagement concerts with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Meet the Music!, “If Music Be the Food…,” and United Nations Chamber Music Society. In 2019, he taught young violists in Brazil as a guest faculty artist in partnership with Guri Santa Marcelina.
Doctor of Musical Arts in viola performance, Northwestern University (in progress)
Master of Music in viola performance with graduate string quartet fellowship, University of Delaware
Bachelor of Music in viola performance, The Juilliard School
Honors Chamber Music Program with Juilliard String Quartet and Baroque viola studies, The Juilliard School
Summer festivals: Music@Menlo, La Jolla SummerFest, Aspen Music Festival, Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival
Chicago Federation of Musicians 2023 Scholarship Winner
Anderson Career Development Prize, Banff International String Quartet Competition Silver Medal, Senior Division, Fischoff Chamber Music Competition
Silver Medal, American Viola Society National Solo Competition
Kovner Fellowship, The Juilliard School
One of my primary goals as a teacher is to instill a deep sense of joy and help students cultivate a genuine love for classical music. I believe that anyone can learn to play a musical instrument, and my approach emphasizes teaching students to become their own teachers. I particularly love sharing the beauty of chamber music, through which we all learn to become better listeners and communicators in and out of music.
Abeo Quartet: founding member
Chicago Philharmonic, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Fulcrum Point New Music Project: performer
A few favorite things:
Cooking and eating Korean food, going thrift shopping, spending quality time with friends and family, making visual art and cartoons
What you love about playing your instrument:
I love that the viola is an imperfect instrument and that each viola is so unique (as other string instruments are more standardized with size and proportions). I love that you have to get to know your viola so intimately and understand what it needs: It teaches me to be a better listener and human.
Most memorable musical moment:
Playing for my first All State orchestra, I got to experience the absolute thrill of finding community and sharing a deep passion for music with others. I will never forget how much it felt like paradise: Nothing else mattered except that we were creating beautiful music together.