Ken James Kubota

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 playing 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.

Kubota continues to grow a following as the founder and producer of JHMJams, a weekly video series of pop covers by classical and jazz musicians. Described in the National Sawdust Log as an “online powerhouse” of classical music’s online ecosystem, Kubota has earned additional recognition from Glamour, Lionsgate, The Violin Channel, The Strad, and Classic FM. His social media presence has also garnered notable collaborations including Meta, Ray-Ban, TikTok, Halstead, Pirastro, and The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

Kubota seeks opportunities to share his experiences with other entrepreneurially minded musicians. His formal speaking engagements include The Juilliard School, The Manhattan School of Music, and CelloBello involving topics around a career in music, social media, cello techniques, and more. Also fond of the relaxed conversations found on podcasts, he can be heard as a guest on Faking Notes, Skip The Repeat, Take Me to Coffee, Good Times with Isabel Hagen, The Conditioned Musician, B4 The Stage, The Artist’s Voice by Petra Sittig, and Forte by Aaron Lipsky.

Kubota holds degrees from The Juilliard School (B.M., M.M.), and has served on faculty at the Peabody Preparatory under Johns Hopkins University. He is currently on faculty at the Lucy Moses School at the Kaufman Music Center.