Cellist Julia MinJeong Kang is an active performer, an avid chamber musician and a passionate educator. Julia has played concertos with various professional orchestras such as the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, and Seoul Pops Orchestra. She is a recipient of many notable awards such as the Governor’s Award in Arts Education, the Samuel Mayes Memorial Cello Award, Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship Award, and the Staller Scholar Award and has attended the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival, the Tanglewood Music Center, and the Castleton Music Festival.

She is a frequent sub with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and plays with groups such as the Mozart Orchestra of New York, New York Chamber Soloists, New York Classical Players, and Distinguished Concerts International New York. She has also played in soundtracks of various films such as A dog’s purpose, Collateral Beauty, Keeping up with the joneses, the girl on the train,  Noah, Hail Caesar, Extremely loud & Incredibly Close, and many other major and independent films. Julia is currently on faculty at Lyra Summer Music Workshop at Smith College in Massachusetts. 

Julia and her husband Tomoya Aomori formed AKDuo, a Cello Duo that plays Tomoya’s original compositions and arrangements influenced by Classical, Jazz, and Pop music (AKDuo.com). Together they have appeared live on Vermont Public Radio (VPR) and have performed in many countries across the world. AKDuo is in the artist roster for the Si-Yo Music Society Foundation (si-yomusic.org). AKDuo aims to create music and concert experience to better communicate with the new generation audiences.       

Julia received her Bachelor’s degree from Manhattan School of Music, Master’s degree from The Juilliard School, and her DMA degree from SUNY Stony Brook University.