A native of Minnesota, Dr. April Ryun Kim currently serves as Associate Professor of Practice in Music at St. Olaf College, where she teaches applied piano, class piano, keyboard pedagogy, and coaches chamber music. Passionate about music education, she has been frequently invited as an adjudicator for competitions such as the Iowa MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) Performance Competitions, the Minnesota MTNA Piano Performance Competition, SPPTA (St. Paul Piano Teachers Association) Concerto Competition, the MMTA (Minnesota Music Teachers Association) Preliminary Round Competitions and more. Additionally, she has taught at summer programs including the St. Olaf Summer Music Academy, Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival, the Arkansas and Oklahoma Conservatory of Music, and the Coda Music Academy Summer Music Festival.

Dr. Kim maintains an active performing career as a soloist, collaborative pianist, and chamber musician, presenting a wide range of repertoire. She has been a featured guest pianist in the “Rhapsody and the Blues” Tour with trumpet player Jens Lindemann, performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue arranged by Matt Catingub, as guest soloist with the St. Olaf Band, in the MasterWorks Festival Honors Recital, and with the St. Olaf Orchestra as a senior soloist. She is also a prizewinner in competitions including Thursday Musical and Schubert Club. As a collaborative pianist, she has performed with musicians such as Micah Wilkinson (principal trumpet, Pittsburgh Symphony), mezzo-soprano Katherine Rohrer, baritone Emery Stephens, percussionist Eri Isomura, and pianist William Chapman Nyaho, and more. Her collaborations also include True Witness: A Civil Rights Cantata by Jodi Globe, performed with the St. Olaf Cantorei, Manitou Singers, and featured soloists.

An advocate for new music, Dr. Kim regularly performs works by living composers. She has appeared with the Musica Nova ensembles at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, collaborating with Zhou Long and Tania León, and with the St. Olaf Faculty Chamber Ensemble in performances of Ann Milikan’s music. Additionally, she is a pianist with 10th Wave Chamber Collective, a Twin Cities-based ensemble dedicated to contemporary repertoire by 20th and 21st century composers such as Missy Mazzoli, David Lang, Jiyoun Chung, Kenji Bunch, and more.

Her conference and festival appearances include the College Music Society (regional and international), MTNA Collegiate Chapters Symposiums, the International Music by Women Festival (2019, 2022), the Composition in Asia Symposium and Festival (3rd, 4th and 5th), MMTA Conventions, and the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (2021, 2023, 2025). Furthermore, she serves as the director of the Korean Composers Festival held at St. Olaf College.

Dr. Kim holds a DMA in Piano Performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, an MM in Solo and Collaborative Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a BM in Piano Performance with a Collaborative Emphasis from St. Olaf College. Her primary teachers include Diane Helfers Petrella, Kathryn Brown, Anita Pontremoli, and Kent McWilliams.