David Yoon joined the Kansas City Symphony in 2019 as associate principal percussion, and served as acting principal for the 2019-2020 season.

A native of Irvine, CA, Yoon received his bachelor’s degree from the Juilliard School and was a recipient of the Kovner Fellowship. Before moving to Kansas City, he did additional graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music in the Orchestral Performance program.

Yoon spent summers at the Verbier Festival, Pacific Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Texas Music Festival, and National Youth Orchestra of the USA. He currently serves as an adjunct assistant professor of percussion at University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, and enjoys teaching privately as well. His past teachers include Daniel Druckman, Jack Van Geem, Chris Lamb, Markus Rhoten, Duncan Patton, She-e Wu, and Kyle Zerna.

He has won first prize at the Great Plains International Marimba Competition, Modern Snare Drum Competition, and Southern California International Marimba Competition. Yoon has also performed with the New York Philharmonic. In 2016, he was the recipient of the Kerope Zildjian Scholarship.

He is a proud endorser of Zildjian Cymbals.