The New York Times hailed, "Judy Kang, a Canadian violinist and most likely the only musician to have worked with both Pierre Boulez and Lady Gaga, was featured in Brahms’ Violin Concerto. Ms. Kang, who drew whoops from the audience before playing a single note, offered a lean, focused sound, pinpoint intonation and expressively molded phrasing. Every line seemed to mean something personal in what amounted to an amorous serenade."
Judy Kang has established herself internationally as a solo violinist and chamber musician in the classical world as well as featured guest artist and prominent collaborator in the world of pop, indie, jazz, and hip hop. As a multi faceted artist, Judy has set herself apart from others through her work as a singer/songwriter, producer, composer, and arranger. A rebel to classical training and tradition, she began replacing scales and etudes with improvising into her practice within the first few years of playing. Judy continues to break constraints of boundaries improvising, jamming, co-writing, producing, and performing with bands and artists from Alaskan prog rock band Portugal.The Man to such powerhouses as Lady Gaga.
Born and raised in Canada to a single mother, her career in violin began at the age of four, winning competitions and performing publicly in recitals. Judy's unusual gift was recognized immediately having learned and memorized a piece at her first lesson. By age six, she made her solo orchestral debut and at age ten, she burst onto the classical music scene in 8 nationally acclaimed televised performance as soloist with the National Arts Center Orchestra. The Ottawa Citizen proclaimed, "If there was a star tonight, it was Judy Kang. Blessed with a gift for the violin that is exceptional, she moves about the instrument at her disposal with an ease that is awe inspiring." A year later and with a fractured wrist at the time (from a volleyball game), Judy auditioned and subsequently accepted a full scholarship to attend the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music. At 17, she graduated with a bachelor in music as the youngest graduate in Curtisʼ history. Shortly after graduation, she captured the grand prize as well as the "Best Interpretation” Award at the CBC Competition for Young Performers, Canada’s most esteemed competition. At the age of 19, Judy was granted the Lily Foldes Scholarship from the Juilliard School where she earned her Masters degree with high honors. Additionally, she was the first recipient on full scholarship of the Artist Diploma from the Manhattan School of Music, which holds the distinction as the highest level of education, above other programs.
Since her first solo appearance at the age of four in her native Edmonton, Canada. Judy has toured six continents across North and South America, Europe, the Soviet Union, Asia, Australia , New Zealand, Africa and the Caribbean Islands. She has performed with all the major orchestras and ensembles of Canada and those of US, Europe and Asia. Further, she performed in recital and chamber music to diverse audiences in prestigious venues including Tokyo Suntory Hall, Lincoln Center, Royal Festival Hall, Schubert Hall in Vienna as well as at the Metropolitan and Guggenheim Museums in New York, to name a few. Judy made her critically acclaimed debut to a sold out audience in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall.
Having achieved a level of pop culture status as “Lady Gaga's violinist/nurse Judy," she was personally selected by the iconic sensation as her solo violinist on the "Monsterball” world tour in 2010-11, the biggest selling debut tour in history. Judy performed in sold out venues for millions worldwide. In the midst of touring Europe, she flew to NYC for less than 30 hours to perform as soloist of Brahms' Violin Concerto at Stern Hall at Carnegie Hall, garnering rave reviews from the New York Times as well as other publications. She appeared on the Emmy award winning HBO special “Lady Gaga Presents: The Monsterball World Tour Live from Madison Square Garden.” Judy was also featured alongside Lady Gaga on American Idol playing the violin solo of her hit single, "Alejandro."
A member of the acoustic trio of Academy Award winning film composer and groundbreaker of electronic music, Ryuichi Sakamoto, they have toured Europe and Asia in sold out shows and have released two albums on the Decca label to much celebration.
As a producer and writer for diverse artists, she co-wrote, produced, and arranged a song for singer Antoniette Costa whose music video garnered over 65,000 views in the first 48 hours following its premiere. She has also toured in collaboration with pianist Chad Lawson for a project entitled "Chopin Variations" which she co-wrote.
Judy frequently collaborates with esteemed composers and has worked closely with Leon Kirchner, Richard Danielpour, Alexander Goehr, and Pierre Boulez. In response to her well-received performance and collaboration with Pierre Boulez and IRCAM, The New York times wrote, "violinist Judy Kang, who played with assurance and imagination, became the wizardly master of an entire sound environment. Young people whose only experience of electronic music comes from deafening rock clubs should have heard this performance."
While as a student at Juilliard, Judy became well versed in the New York club scene having played to sold out audiences in venues such as Le Poisson Rouge, The Bitter End, Irving Plaza, Mercury Lounge, Pianos, The Living Room, and Bowery Ballroom, among others.
She has performed in front of numerous diplomats and leaders including U.S. President Bill Clinton. Her extensive collaborations include distinguished members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, and Emerson Quartets, Beaux Arts Trio, Olafur Arnalds, Lenny Kravitz, Richard Goode, Lynn Harrell, Andre Previn, Claude Frank, Miriam Fried, Emmanuel Ax, and David Geringas, among many others. Her mentors include
Sylvia Rosenberg, Robert Mann, Aaron Rosand, Felix Galimir, Lorans Fenyves, James Keene, and Yoko Wong.
Judy has performed at major festivals such as Marlboro, Ravinia, Banff, Orford, Bargemusic, Manchester, Aspen, the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, Lenaudiere, and the Pablo Casals Festival, as well as at various jazz and pop festivals like Lollapalooza and the Festival International Jazz Barcelona, to name a few. She was also featured in one of three chamber groups selected for the 60th Anniversary Disc from a live performance on Musicians from Marlboro. She is an original founding member of piano quartet "Made in Canada" having toured throughout Canada and was concertmaster and a frequent featured soloist with string ensemble "Sejong".
Judy's achievements have garnered her much media attention, frequently appearing on CNN and MTV as well as in a myriad print publications including being featured in Chatelaine magazine’s 80 women to watch. Her release of two critically acclaimed CDs have been nominated for the Opus Award and the Gemini Award in her native Canada. She has won top prizes at prestigious international competitions such as Kreisler, Naumburg, Dong-A, and Carl Nielsen, as well as grand prize several years in a row at the Canadian Music Competition. Having graduated high school at age 15, she was selected as an All American Scholar, honouring the top Academically talented students in America as well as being nominated for the United States National Mathematics Awards (USNMA).
Judy is frequently heard live and through broadcasts on national and international radio stations such as CBC (Canada), BBC (London) and on WQXR (New York). Humbled and thankful to have received numerous and continuous support through scholarships and grants from numerous foundations, Judy won the 'Sylva Gelber' prize given to the most talented musician under 30. In recognition of her outstanding achievement and contribution to the arts, she is featured in a book entitled “Korea and Canada: A Shared History.” The sole artist to be awarded the longest use of an instrument from the Canda Council Instrument Bank, Judy won the use the 1689 "Baumgartner" Stradivarius, through a generous donor.
She frequently donates her time and talents towards charity, benefits, nursing and retirement homes, hospitals, schools, arts education, ministry, and missions. Judy is artistic director for EnoB, a community based nonprofit organization that reaches out to people who are disabled, hospitalized, or suffer from socio- economic disadvantages. She is also artist ambassador for WorldVision.
Inspired by a deep yearning to delve within and to express her authentic self, Judy released a self-titled debut record of original songs on March 5, 2013, fully self written, produced, and recorded. The album explores her evolving personal journey from small town to world renowned artist featuring the violin primarily, as well as vocals, and other instruments. It garnered much praise and accolades from the press and artists alike. MidWest Record stated, "Moving from Juilliard to Lady Gaga as easily as she moves from ambient to a Stradivarius, Kang blows open the stereotypical tiger mom progeny being a hot chick that masters classical violin before puberty. For all the pop chops she has under her young belt, this is a shining example of a wonderful record that many will not know what to make of." Bob Boilen, host and creator of NPR's online music show All Songs Considered, describes it as "diverse, unbelievably beautiful, and eclectic.”
She continues to stretch her artistic boundaries through various projects of her own as well as with her collaborations with other artist. Her most project “The Judy Kang Experience” explores her life through a journey through music she has written as well as from others.