Claude Sim

Claude Sim enjoys a varied career as a chamber musician, orchestral leader, soloist, and multi-genre performing artist. He studied violin performance at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (BM ’99) with Greg Fulkerson, Almita Vamos, and viola with Roland Vamos. At age 21, he was appointed Associate Concertmaster of the Colorado Symphony under music director Marin Alsop. As frequent soloist with the orchestra, he has earned praise for his ‘lustrous tone and poise’ by the Rocky Mountain News and was dubbed ‘Denver’s Musical Adventurer’ by the Denver Post. Formerly Associate Principal Second of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Sim has served in guest capacity as Concertmaster of the Kansas City Symphony, Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, Boulder Philharmonic, as Principal Second of the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Ottawa, and first violin with the Philadelphia Orchestra. 

Sim has been a grand prizewinner at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and has served as guest first violin and viola on concert tours with the critically acclaimed Miró and Pacifica Quartets. He has collaborated in chamber music performance with pianists Christopher O’Riley, Jeffrey Kahane, and members of the Vermeer and Tokyo String Quartets. 

As solo violinist of the tango ensemble Extasis, Sim has recorded a studio album. The quartet’s arrangements of Golden Age tango by D’Arienzo, Troilo and Pugliese through the nuevo tango of Rovira and Piazzolla serve as foundations of their wide-ranging repertoire. Extasis performance tours and community engagements have reached audiences across the United States and Europe. 

Known for his multi-genre interests, Sim’s jazz violin album Time With You presents a collection of standards from the American Songbook. Trumpeter Greg Gisbert (Wynton Marsalis, Clark Terry sideman) is a featured artist on the record. Sim has performed with Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr. and Odom’s jazz combo as guest soloist. He has shared the stage with Irish American fiddler Eileen Ivers, Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers Band, Gov’t Mule), rock band Guster, and with iconic Denver rock band Devotchka, both live and on the album 100 Lovers. In 2014, he performed as a duo with Grammy award-winning artist and banjo master Béla Fleck on a Colorado tour, culminating at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. 

Sim’s interest in exploring original and standard gypsy jazz has led to collaborations with today’s elite string jazz artists including live radio broadcasts and a tour with German guitarist Joscho Stephan.

Claude Sim’s performing career and concurrent teaching mission focus on developing true artistic versatility while building connections across musical genres and communities. His previous teaching appointments include University of Colorado Denver and Colorado State University. From 2019-2022, he served as Assistant Professor of Violin at CU Boulder College of Music.