A native of Los Angeles, California, Howard Kim received his early piano training from master teacher Dorothy Hwang at the R.D. Colburn School of Performing Arts. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance from the University of California-Los Angeles, studying under Antoinette Perry and Aube Tzerko. While completing the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Piano Performance and Literature under the tutelage of Rebecca Penneys at the Eastman School of Music, he was awarded the Performer's Certificate.

Dr. Kim has won numerous awards and honors, including 2^nd Place and Audience Favorite Prize at the Josef Hofmann International Piano Competition and the Ozelle Rubenstein Award for Chamber Music at the Young Artists' Peninsula Music Festival as part of the Colburn Piano Quintet. He has been the featured soloist with the Colburn Chamber Orchestra, the Marina del Rey-Westchester Symphony Orchestra, Southeastern University Chamber Orchestra, and the Imperial Symphony Orchestra. He is currently Assistant Professor of Music at Fayetteville State University and the keyboardist for the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra.