But on Jan. 25, the modest and quiet "Joe" had the opportunity to shine. Kim was the featured trumpet soloist at the Santa Clara County Band Director's Association 2004 Honor Band Performance, held at Henry M. Gunn High School in the Spangenberg Auditorium in Palo Alto.

Kim said he was honored and fortunate to perform his first solo at the event, Alexander Arutunian's Arutunian Trumpet Concerto, an advanced 13-minute piece in Kim's extensive repertoire. Kim was selected as the soloist after winning the county Honor Band soloist competition. Kim said his audition was judged by band directors from around the Bay Area.

"I tend to always get really nervous when I do an audition," said the 18-year-old student. "I try to not have anything else on my mind, but just focus on the music."

This is Kim's third year in the Honor Band, where he has been the principal trumpet player for the last two years. He has also served as the principal trumpet player in the California Youth Symphony for three years and is now playing with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra.

In addition, Kim is the principal trumpet player in the wind ensemble, jazz band and symphony orchestra at SHS. In his spare time, he plays with the CYS brass quintet at various gigs and benefits, such as outdoors at Santana Row.

Kim's supportive mother—also a professional musician—forced him to play the violin at age 3 or 4, which he hated. By age 9, growing up in Seoul, Korea, Kim took up the trumpet and was trained in classical music. At age 11, he was studying under a former member of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Kim said he now identifies more with the works of jazz-legend Miles Davis than with classical music.

Six years ago, Kim's parents immigrated to the United States from Korea, mainly to improve their son's educational upbringing. Kim and his mother live in Saratoga Village, where they speak Korean at home. Kim's father still resides and works in Korea, but visits every few months.

"I'm planning a trip back to Korea this summer," Kim said.

Kim likes hanging out with friends, watching movies and attending classical and jazz concerts. He's also into imported cars and is "souping up" his 2003 Hyundai Tiburon.

"I don't live with my trumpet all the time," he said.

Yet Kim said he practices the trumpet for at least two hours a day and is also an accomplished pianist. He said he hopes to attend Northwestern University to continue his music studies in jazz and classical performance.

"Like all the kids I have, I look forward to his future and seeing where he goes—and buying tickets to his performances one day," said SHS music director Michael Boitz. "Joseph is very much a normal kid with an extraordinary talent."

From the outside, Kim looks and acts like a regular teenager. He comes to class wearing a gray-hooded sweatshirt, sweat pants and a stocking cap, and has both ears pierced. It's an appearance more commonly associated with a "rugrat" or "a juvenile delinquent," his teacher said. But under the thuggish exterior, Boitz said, there lies a well-mannered, musical genius.

James "Jim" Dooley of Los Gatos has been teaching Kim through private lessons for the past two years.

"Joseph is a gift of a student," Dooley said. "When one gets a student who is already gifted and as well-developed as he is, it's a joy."

Dooley, 48, a professional musician and first trumpeter in the former San Jose Symphony, said he doesn't have to spend time instructing Kim on how to blow the trumpet or play notes. Dooley said Kim was raised studying the trumpet under a master in Korea, which gave him a vital and solid foundation. As for Kim's latest auditions with colleges and premier music schools across the country, Dooley said success is definitively in Kim's future.

"Quite honestly, Joe has all the tools and potential to have a career in music," Dooley said.

Dooley added he's looking forward to seeing Kim get past his "senioritis" to achieve a higher level of dedication to his art after graduation. While many people have personalities that resemble the instruments they play, Dooley described Kim as intelligent and soft-spoken.

"The trumpet world is full of so many people who tend to speak like trumpets," Dooley said. "But Joe has the gift of his Asian upbringing. He's not loud. He's not aggressive."