Dr. Janghyun Thomas Kim is a Texas/Louisiana-based clarinetist and composer. Originally from South Korea, he made his solo debut at the Sejong Center for The Performing Arts with The Chosun Ilbo (The Chosun Newspaper) in South Korea and he made his American solo debut at the Carnegie Hall after winning second place at The American Protégé International Music Competition in 2018.

An avid chamber musician, Janghyun Thomas Kim is the co-founder of the Vermillion Duet, a flute and clarinet duo that seeks contemporary works by underrepresented composers. The duo has recently received a grant from Chamber Music America to be Digital Artists in Residence. Thomas has also performed with numerous chamber groups including the LSU Grad Woodwind Quintet and the Constantinides New Music Ensemble. He has won top prizes at the Universal Chamber Music Competition in Korea, and the NOLA Chamber Music Competition in the U.S.A.

Thomas recently performed Oscar Navarro’s Clarinet Concerto No.2 with the Louisiana State University Symphony Orchestra as a winner of the Concerto Competition. He also was featured as a soloist with the LSU Clarinet Choir, Sung-sim Catholic University Orchestra, Southeastern Louisiana State University Chamber Orchestra, Gyeyang Symphony Orchestra, and MIOS Philharmonic Orchestra.

As a composer, Thomas enjoys collaborating internationally with performers. His composition works were performed across Europe, Asia, North America, and South America, including flutist Léa Villeneuve’s solo recital, the Vermillion Duet’s chamber recital in the 2021 Seattle Flute Festival and Vll International Chamber Music Festival of Ecuador, as well as in the Constantinides New Music Ensemble. His first composition, Destin, was selected to be performed at Carnegie Hall in October 2020.

Thomas earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Louisiana State University, a Master of Music degree from Southeastern Louisiana University, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Catholic University of Korea. He held Graduate Assistant positions at both LSU and SELU. His primary instructors include Deborah Chodacki, Victor Drescher, Sejong Yoo, and Hyungak Shin.

Dr. Kim currently serves as a clarinet faculty member at Prime Music Institute.