Cellist Ken James Kubota has shattered perceptions of the typical classical music career. While he is celebrated by The New York Times for "dynamic” and “polished” musicianship, most know Kubota as a YouTuber, social media personality, and for pioneering his unique style of strumming the cello like a guitar. As an artist, many know him as one-third of the band Empire Wild, a group now represented by the Concert Artists Guild after receiving their 2020 Ambassador Prize. On social media, his audience numbers in the tens of thousands and continues to rise—he was selected as an Educational Partner by social media platform TikTok, creating fun and instructional videos on playing the cello. Kubota continues to grow a following as the founder and producer of JHMJams, a biweekly video series of pop improvisations by classical and jazz musicians. Described in National Sawdust Log as an “online powerhouse” of classical music’s online ecosystem, JHM has earned additional recognition from Glamour, The Violin Channel, The Strad, and Classic FM. The channel is known for enlisting a brand new ensemble of musicians for each video; its roster numbers 300 and counting. Also found on Instagram and Facebook, the series has amassed over 5 million views on YouTube since 2016. Mr. Kubota holds degrees from The Juilliard School (B.M., M.M.), and serves on faculty at the Peabody Preparatory under Johns Hopkins University, Suzuki Music Schools of Westport and Orange in Connecticut, and Lucy Moses School in NYC. Richard Aaron, Anthony Elliott, and Alice Ann O’Neill are his primary teachers, though he is grateful to all of the luminaries who have shared their ancient secrets of cello and music: Yo-Yo Ma, Frans Helmerson, Peter Stumpf, and members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Cleveland, Emerson, Cavani, and St. Lawrence String Quartets. Ken is based in New York City, where he continues to film JHMJams in his Harlem living room.
Follow and listen to his journey on Instagram and YouTube and Tiktok
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