08/28/2026
The new academic year brings new faces in the department. Join us as we extend a warm welcome to faculty member J. Josh Kim, Instructor in Low Strings.
J. Joshua Kim is a cellist and educator who recently earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Cello Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). His doctoral studies focused on contemporary cello repertoire and pedagogy, culminating in a project examining the extended techniques and performance practices found in Sofia Gubaidulina’s Ten Preludes for Solo Cello and Isang Yun’s Sieben Etüden. Through performance, analysis, and recorded demonstrations, his research explores the technical and musical challenges these works present and their applications to contemporary cello pedagogy.
Kim began studying the cello at age five with Samuel Woodward, a former student of Pablo Casals, and continued his studies with Dr. Alexander Russakovsky at the University of Southern Mississippi. His early accomplishments included performing Haydn’s C Major Cello Concerto with the Mobile Symphony Youth Orchestra at age thirteen and making his professional solo debut with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in Elgar’s Cello Concerto. He was also a prizewinner in the Lois Pickard Competition, Birmingham Music Club Scholarship Competition, and Louisiana Philharmonic Concerto Competition.
In 2018, Kim earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Alabama. During his undergraduate studies, he performed as a soloist with the Alabama Symphony and, after winning the university’s Concerto Competition, performed Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Huxford Symphony under the baton of Dr. Blake Richardson. In 2019, he joined the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, where he continues to perform.
As an educator, Kim is dedicated to developing technically sound and expressive musicians while encouraging students to engage with both the traditional canon and contemporary repertoire. He has served as Professor of Low Strings at the University of North Alabama, where he taught cello and double bass and coached chamber music.
