She is a violinist born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada who was deemed a child prodigy and started studying the violin in a Suzuki class when she was 4 years old. Before long she was taking lessons with James Keene, who was the concertmaster of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and when she was 7 years old she made her concerto debut in Montreal.
Two years later, at 9 years old, she was awarded a scholarship at the Curtis Institute of Music and in 1989 she became the youngest artist to win the Young Concert Artists international auditions in New York.
She earned her Bachelor of Music degree at the Curtis Institute of Music in 1991 when she was 15 years old and the following year won the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists in Parist and the Philadelphia Orchestra Student Competition. She took further studies at Juilliard School and earned her Master’s degree in 1993. That same year she made her New York City recital debut.
While at Curtis Institute of Music she met her future husband, the cellist Thomas Kraines, and they have two daughters. Together then have played chamber music at the Mostly Mozart Festival.
In 1994 she performed with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra on a tour of North Canada and won the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Two years later she appeared at Carnegie Hall.
She has performed as a soloist with many Canadian, American and various international orchestras and became Principal second vilin with the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra in 1999. Two years later in 2001 she became First Violin with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra until 2003 when she became the assistant concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
She moved again in another 2 years in 2005 to take on the position of first associate concertmaster with the Philadelphia Orchestra where she holds the Joseph and Marie Field Chair. She has also been a member of the Clarosa Quartet.
Recordings she has appeared on include Sleigh Ride by the Boston Pops Orchestra, Catching Light: Chamber Music by Jan Krzywicki with the Clarosa Quartet, Peter Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. “Pathetique” and Dmitri Shostakovich – Sympony No. 5/Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok by the Philadelphia Orchestra and Affairs of the Heart – Music of Marjan Mozetich with the Vancouver Orchestra
In the field of musical education she has served on the Board of Trustees of Philadelphia’s Settlement Music School.
Sources:
- https://www.philorch.org/your-philorch/meet-your-orchestra/musicians/juliette-kang/
- http://www.pomusicians.org/juliette-kang.html
- https://www.pcmsconcerts.org/artist/juliette-kang-violin/
- https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/juliette-kang-emc
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliette_Kang
- http://www.matthewsprizzo.com/juliette-kang.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/28/style/wedding-juliette-kang-thomas-kraines.html
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/745013-Juliette-Kang?type=Credits&subtype=Instruments-Performance&filter_anv=0