Former SPCO Artistic Director to succeed Barry Kempton as the 143 Year-Old Organization’s Next Leader
SAINT PAUL (June 4, 2026) — Internationally renowned violinist and arts leader Kyu-Young Kim is the new Artistic and Executive Director of Schubert Club. Widely recognized as a world-class musician and organizational leader, Kim assumes the role after a long tenure with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) where he has performed as Principal Violin since 2011, and served as Senior Director of Artistic Planning from 2013-2016 and Artistic Director from 2016-2024.
Kim will succeed Artistic & Executive Director Barry Kempton, who will step down on June 30, 2026 after nearly 15 years of leadership.
Kim has demonstrated both bold artistic vision and strong leadership skills during his career, and has achieved international recognition as a performer and an arts executive. His appointment as Artistic Director for the SPCO marked the first time a playing member was chosen as the artistic leader for a major American orchestra. As the SPCO’s Artistic Director, Kim shaped the organization’s artistic direction, oversaw the planning and budgeting of more than 100 concerts annually, stewarded close partnerships with donors, staff, and musicians, and expanded the organization’s relationships with artist managers and presenters nationally and internationally. During Kim’s tenure, the SPCO appointed 10 new artistic partners; commissioned fifty new works by a diverse set of composers; and won a GRAMMY® Award for its recording of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden. His collaborative and strategic leadership enabled the orchestra to elevate its profile as a musician-led ensemble with groundbreaking collaborators and launch new initiatives like Sandbox Composer Residencies and a free HD video concert library with over 120 works.
“I am thrilled to take over the mantle of Schubert Club, one of the nation’s finest classical music presenting organizations, and a true community asset,” says Kim. “What drew me to the role was the organization’s incredible legacy of presenting some of the world’s most exciting artists — as demonstrated in next season’s offerings with soprano Lise Davidsen and pianist Conrad Tao — alongside their commitment to pushing the boundaries of the art form through new series like Schubert Club Mix. Honoring the past while also charting new ground aligns so well with my own artistic values, and I’m excited to lead the Schubert Club in its next chapter.”
Board President Ann Juergens said, “With his innovative artistic vision and years of administrative experience, Kyu-Young Kim is the ideal leader for this important time in Schubert Club’s history. He is an internationally known musician with deep Minnesota roots, who understands Schubert Club’s extraordinary strengths and appreciates the diverse communities we serve. I am confident he will cultivate our growth in new and transformative ways.
“As Board President,” Juergens added, “I am grateful to the Search Committee for its thoughtful and successful work. Also, our audiences, staff, musicians and donors are indebted to Barry Kempton, who has positioned us so well for the future.”
Schubert Club is poised to move into a new era, guided by a clear strategic vision: to reframe classical music for new and broader audiences, to center equity and inclusion, and to create meaningful connections across its varied programs. The Artistic and Executive Director plays a key role in realizing those goals, simultaneously curating the artistic direction and stewarding the organization’s long-term health. Kim’s record at the SPCO reflects a deep commitment to all of these priorities, making him exceptionally well positioned to step into this role.
Led by John Nuechterlein, the 7-member Search Committee was made up of current and former Schubert Club Board members, representing a wide range of backgrounds and expertise. The Committee conducted a rigorous 8-month international search, conducted by ZRG Aspen Leadership Group.
“I am indebted to the insight and collaborative approach of our stellar search committee,” stated Committee Chair John Nuechterlein. “Their diverse perspectives helped guide a highly competitive process that looked for a new leader who had a track record of artistic innovation as well as executive leadership skills. After talking with a long list of potential candidates, we were thoroughly delighted to ultimately find the best candidate right here in the Twin Cities.”
Kim, who has lived in the Twin Cities for 20 years, said, “This community is quite simply a destination city for classical musicians and classical music lovers. Schubert Club has been a big reason for that for many decades, and I’m excited to bring all of my skills and energy to build on that momentum and carry it into the future.”
ABOUT KYU-YOUNG KIM
Kyu-Young Kim has forged a distinctive path as a visionary arts leader. From 2016-2024, Kim served simultaneously as the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Artistic Director and Principal Violin, a dual leadership role that was unique among major American orchestras. During his time serving as Artistic Director, the SPCO named ten Artistic Partners and hired sixteen new members, opened its new Concert Hall at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts to great critical acclaim, and toured throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Kim was responsible for programming over 100 concerts per season and led the development and execution of the SPCO’s artistic vision. Under his leadership, the group launched an exciting new composer residency model called Sandbox, honed its musician-led artistic model, increased the diversity of its repertoire and guest artists, and won an ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming and a GRAMMY® Award for its disc of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden with violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja.
Outside of his work at the SPCO, Kim has had a rich and varied life as a chamber musician, orchestral leader and educator. He was a founding member of the Daedalus Quartet with whom he won the Grand Prize at the 2001 Banff International String Quartet Competition and a former member of the Pacifica String Quartet, winners of the prestigious Naumburg Chamber Music Award. He has also served as guest concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra, as guest principal second violin of the Houston Symphony, and is an Emeritus Member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Kim is on the violin faculty of the University of Minnesota School of Music and has done guest master classes in violin and chamber music throughout the United States and Canada, including recent residencies at the Curtis Institute of Music.
Kim and his wife, Pitnarry Shin, a cellist in the Minnesota Orchestra, have enjoyed living and working in the Twin Cities for 20 years. In Minnesota, they have found the perfect home for sharing their love of music with the community. Their greatest accomplishment by far is raising two wonderful children, Orion and Ariella, with whom they love to play family chamber music.
ABOUT SCHUBERT CLUB
For more than 140 years, Schubert Club has invited the world’s great recital soloists and ensembles to the Twin Cities and has promoted the superb musical talents of our community through performances, education, and museum programs. One of the first arts organizations in the country, Schubert Club remains today one of the nation’s most vibrant, relevant, and respected music organizations.
Schubert Club’s International Artist Series has presented many of the world’s great recitalists including Jascha Heifetz, Arthur Rubinstein, Cecilia Bartoli, Isaac Stern, Beverly Sills, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Leontyne Price, Yo-Yo Ma, and Renée Fleming to name a few. In 2014, Schubert Club introduced Schubert Club Mix, its convention-breaking performance series in nontraditional venues. Additional series include the Music in the Park Series, which presents chamber music in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood; Accordo a string collective comprising current and former members of the Minnesota Orchestra and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; and a free weekly lunchtime Courtroom Concert series at the Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul featuring Minnesota-based artists and composers.
Not only a concert presenter, Schubert Club has engaged in music education programs since 1911. Schubert Club currently reaches two thousand youth annually through varied activities such as KidsJam music workshops, Project CHEER free music lessons in neighborhood locations, master classes and scholarship awards that support and foster the next generation of musicians.
The recently renovated Schubert Club Music Museum, located in historic Landmark Center, holds two exciting new interactive galleries—the Music Makers Zone, where visitors can explore, discover and create music with instruments from around the globe; and Keyboard Journey Gallery, an immersive focus on the sights and sounds of Schubert Club’s keyboard collection—from a 16th-century spinet to iconic 20th-century electro-mechanical keyboard instruments like the Fender Rhodes piano and the Hammond organ. Composer letters from the Gilman Ordway Manuscript Collection are also on display, together with a selection of historical music players that brought music into the home.
For more information visit schubert.org.
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