St. Paul Chamber Orchestra musicians, including principal violinist Kyu-Young Kim, at right, perform in June 2021 at Bravo! Vail in Colorado. Instead of employing a conductor, as is traditional at many other orchestras, SPCO is led by playing musicians. (Photo courtesy Tomas Cohen / SPCO)

Kyu-Young Kim, the well-respected artistic director and principal violin of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, is stepping down as the group’s musical leader, effective when the current season ends in early June. He’ll remain principal violinist.

Kim had held the role since 2016.

“We appreciate his remarkable contributions over the years as Artistic Director and we are grateful he has chosen to remain with the Orchestra,” an SPCO spokesperson said via email. During Kim’s tenure, the SPCO has hired 16 new musicians and nine artistic partners, earned a Grammy Award, performed around the country and commissioned many original orchestral works through its Sandbox Residency.

The musicians’ union, however, painted the decision as less-than-mutual, saying in a statement that Kim’s resignation as artistic director was “the culmination of years of harmful and non-collaborative decisions” by SPCO management.

Specifically, the musicians criticized a move earlier this year to reduce the orchestra’s number of overall concerts performed and eliminate three venues — in Arden Hills, Stillwater and Wayzata — from its Neighborhood Series around the Twin Cities metro area. This will bring the orchestra’s 2024-25 schedule down from over 130 concerts per season to 82.

These decisions “have damaged the legacy and promise of a world-class chamber orchestra,” the musicians’ group wrote.

Kyu-Young Kim holds his violin. Kim took over as artistic director in 2016. (Photo: Courtesy of the SPCO)

Kim could not be reached for comment Saturday. An SPCO spokesperson declined to address the musicians’ specific criticisms as relating to Kim’s departure.

When orchestra leaders announced the schedule reduction in February, the goal was “ensure that the SPCO remains financially healthy and able to provide our community with a world-class orchestra for years to come,” leaders wrote on the orchestra’s website at the time.

As of last year, SPCO ticket revenue was about 30 percent lower than it had been before the pandemic, but the organization continues to be financially viable: The SPCO ended its 2022-23 fiscal year with an operating surplus of about $77,000 and $4.54 million in its “rainy day fund,” making it the 28th out of the past 30 years with a balanced budget.

As for what comes next: “The SPCO will work across the organization to determine the next steps for artistic leadership while remaining committed to the SPCO’s distinctive musician-led artistic model,” the orchestra’s leaders said in a statement.

SPCO musicians’ collective bargaining contract is set to expire this summer.

Whereas many other orchestras are led by a conductor, the SPCO is fairly unique in being creatively driven by a playing member of the orchestra. The group frequently performs with either a guest conductor or none at all.

Kim, who took over as artistic director in January 2016, has been affiliated with the SPCO for several decades. From 2000 to 2005, he served as associate concertmaster; an early review in the Pioneer Press praised him as a “secure and elegant player.”

Then, after several years in New York City with the Daedalus Quartet, which he helped found, he returned to St. Paul as principal second violin in 2011. And in 2013, following the SPCO’s highly publicized six-month contract lockout, he ultimately reversed his acceptance of a role with the New York Philharmonic to stay in St. Paul.

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