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’s 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, MJ Huskonen, Yue Deng, Thierry Stoeckel, Dr. Han Soo Kim, Linda Wang, Kathleen Spring, Ian Swensen, Alexander Barantschik, Jay Christy, David Halen, and Bing Wang, with Baroque Violin coaching from Elizabeth Blumenstock.

An avid chamber musician, Mr. Kay has performed alongside Augustin Hadelich, Simone Porter, Stephen Wartts, Robert Chen, Alex Kerr, Matthew Zalkand, Jeremiah Shaw (of the Telegraph Quartet), Jean-Michel Fonteneau, Elaine Douvas, members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, respectively.

In collaboration with Lincoln Center, Mr. Kay performed chamber music concerts throughout the world through an exclusive contract with Holland America Cruise Line. Having performed over 400 concerts onboard cruise ships, he believes strongly in using intimate chamber music concerts as a way to connect and share with audiences of every age and background.

As an orchestral musician, Mr. Kay has performed with the Colorado Symphony, the Omaha Symphony, New World Symphony, Opera Colorado, Colorado Ballet, Santa Barbara Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic, and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. Mr. Kay was invited to perform as guest concertmaster for the Santa Barbara Master Chorale and the Longmont Symphony Orchestra. He has also served as Assistant Concertmaster of the Aspen Chamber Symphony, and Principal Second Violin for both the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra and the Aspen Opera Center Orchestra. He has worked under the batons of Robert Spano, Marin Alsop, Matthias Pintscher, Dame Jane Glover, Nicholas McGegan, James Feddeck, Jayce Ogren, Keith Lockhart, Christoph von Dohnányi, Sir Andrew Davis, Oscar Jockel, Ari Pelto, Christian Reif, among others.

Dedicated to performing works by living composers, Mr. Kay has worked with composers Daniel Gee and Remi Inari on two commissions: Into the Desert: A Monastic Portrait (Gee) and Hojoki (Inari). He has also collaborated with Pamala Z and Steve Schick as Concertmaster of the SFCM Chamber Orchestra to perform her work Heiligenstadt Drone. Mr. Kay has performed with the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble performing the work Ligeti, under the baton of David Robertson. Having won a recording grant through the University of Denver, his recoding of Kevin Puts’ And Legions Will Rise was featured on Colorado Public Radio. In addition, he was featured in composer Webster Young’s documentary Return to Aspen, working with Young to perform his compositions throughout the film.

Mr. Kay has also 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.

Mr. Kay currently serves on the faculty of Metropolitan State University-Denver, in addition to being a Visiting Artist at Westmont College. 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 believes strongly in preparing the next generation of musicians with all tools necessary to lead a successful and fulfilling life in the arts.

An avid youth music educator, Mr. Kay is the director of Primavera Place, a preparatory training school for string players in Denver, Colorado. He leads a school of 60 students, along with a team of dedicated faculty. He recently led an international tour with his pre-college students and their parents to Switzerland. 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, teaching in the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara Public Schools, and a Graduate Teaching Assistantship under Linda Wang at The University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music.

Mr. Kay has performed throughout Italy, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, 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.

A four-time alum, 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. In addition, he has attended the Brevard Music Festival, the Credo Chamber Music Festival at Oberlin College, 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.

As a soloist, Mr. Kay has performed Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra (Minnesota), the Brahms Double Concerto at The Music Academy of The West’s Hahn Hall, and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the Roanoque Baroque Ensemble (Virginia). Additionally, he has performed as a concerto soloist in Vienna’s Das MuTh Hall. Upcoming performances of Locatelli’s Violin Concerto No. 11 with Roanoque Baroque Ensemble will be performed in December of 2025.

In addition to performing and educating, Mr. Kay also serves as Manager of Artistic Operations for the Music Academy of the West’s Lehrer Vocal Institute, alongside celebrated Mezzo-Soprano Sasha Cooke and San Francisco Opera’s John Churchwell.

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 divides his time between Denver and Santa Barbara with his wife, Dr. Catherine Barth.