Mr. Kay is a native of Cleveland, Ohio. He is a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music, Westmont College, and the Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory College.

Indebted to his instructors for their commitment and care in his musical training, Mr. Kay was fortunate to study under Mary Jane Kolodziej, David Thrall, Rebecca Ensworth, Louise Zeitlin, Eugenia Poustyreva, Yue Deng, Thierry Stoeckel, Dr. Han Soo Kim, Linda Wang, Kathleen Spring, Ian Swensen, Alexander Barantschik, Jay Christy, David Halen, and Bing Wang.

An avid educator, Mr. Kay is the director of Primavera Place, a preparatory training school for strings in Denver, Colorado. In addition, he also taught for many years at the Santa Barbara Strings Organization under director and mentor Mary Beth Woodruff. Past teaching posts include Aspen Music Festival and School’s P.A.L.S. Program in the Roaring Fork Valley, The Amabile School (San Francisco), FreshStart Music (Irvine, CA), and a Graduate Teaching Assistantship under Linda Wang at The University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music.

Recently completing multiple projects with Lincoln Center and Holland America Line, Mr. Kay traveled to over 20 countries and performed over 400 concerts onboard the MS Rotterdam and MS Westerdam, respectively, bringing quality classical music to the open seas.

In addition, he has performed throughout Italy, the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, and extensively in the U.S., in renowned halls such as the Mozarteum (Salzburg), Dvorak Hall (Prague), Das MuTh (Vienna), Harvard University, Severance Hall (Cleveland), New World Center (Miami Beach), Harris Hall (Aspen), Mechanics Hall (Boston), The Granada (Santa Barbara), The Aspen Art Museum (Aspen), among others.

In 2019 and 2021, Mr. Kay was selected as one of 10 students to receive the Center for Orchestral Leadership Training Fellowship at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Throughout his four years as a student in Aspen, he served in principal positions in the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Aspen Opera Center Orchestra, and the Aspen Chamber Symphony. In addition, Mr. Kay attended the Credo Chamber Music Festival at Oberlin College, the Brevard Music Festival, and the Stringendo School for Strings.

Mr. Kay was fortunate to live and study in Heidelberg, Germany at the Heidelberg Opera House with its’ Concertmaster, Thierry Stoeckel, during the fall and winter of 2014.

Mr. Kay has performed chamber music alongside Augustin Hadelich, Simone Porter, Stephen Wartts, Robert Chen, Alex Kerr, Mary Beth Woodruff, Matthew Zalkand, Jeremiah Shaw (of the Telegraph Quartet), and Jean-Michel Fonteneau.

A member of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, he has performed with Opera Colorado, the Omaha Symphony, Colorado Ballet, Santa Barbara Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic, New World Symphony, and the Bakersfield and Yakima Symphony Orchestras. Mr. Kay has performed with the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, alongside Pamala Z and Steve Schick as concertmaster with the SFCM Chamber Orchestra, and as guest concertmaster both for the Longmont Symphony Orchestra, and the Santa Barbara Master Chorale. He also performed as principal second violin under P.D.Q. Bach during his lively concert experience at the Brevard Music Festival (North Carolina).

Mr. Kay collaborated with the celebrated post-conceptualist artist, Stephen Prina, during the presentation of his work “String Quartet for Six Players,” at the Aspen Art Museum during its’ exhibition in 2021.

As a soloist, Mr. Kay has performed at The Music Academy of The West’s Hahn Hall, Vienna’s Das MuTh Hall, and with the Roanoque Baroque Ensemble performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. This season’s highlights include performances of Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra, and concerti by Telemann and Handel with the Roanoque Baroque Ensemble.

Mr. Kay currently is a Visiting Artist at Westmont College, in addition to serving on the faculty of Metropolitan State University-Denver. Mr. Kay has also served on the faculty of the Credo Chamber Music Festival. His students have won their concerto competitions, soloed with orchestra, and attended prestigious festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival and School.

Mr. Kay is the Host and Executive Producer of the forthcoming docu-series, Travel Notes. The series seeks to bring understanding and unity through the powerful lense of music. Learn more - Travel Notes

Mr. Kay performs on a 1765 Johannes Helmer instrument on generous loan from the Riesenfeld family of Santa Barbara.

He currently resides in Denver, Colorado, enjoying a hike, a coffee, and wonderful views of the Rockies.