About the Artist
Flutist Jasmine Choi, a native of Korea, is an active soloist, chamber musician, and full-time orchestral musician. She has been critically acclaimed on international stages for her rich tone, technical brilliance, superb musicianship, and charismatic stage presence. At the age of 22, she was appointed Associate Principal Flute of the Cincinnati Symphony under the music director Paavo Jarvi and became the first Korean woodwind player to hold a post with a major orchestra in the United States.
Nominated by Symphony magazine as one of “America’s Emerging Artists” in 2006, 2007, and 2008, Jasmine was presented on the “Rising Stars” series at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.
Recent performances include solo recitals at Wigmore Hall in London, Konzerthaus Schubert Saal in Vienna, the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, and Hoam Art Hall and Kumho Art Hall in Seoul. She has also performed as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Salzburg Mozarteum, Czech Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, and KBS Symphony, among many others.
She has also appeared as soloist in the Musikverein Golden Hall in Vienna, Konzerthaus Mozart Saal in Vienna, Dvorak and Smetana Halls in Prague, Disney Hall in Los Angeles, and in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, and has performed the concertos of Devienne, Haydn, Ibert, Jolivet, Liebermann, Mercadante, Mozart, Nielsen, Reinecke, Vivaldi, as well as Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 2, Bizet-Borne’s Carmen Fantasy, her arrangements of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, among others.
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Jasmine Choi began her musical studies on the violin and piano at an early age. She began playing the flute at the age of nine, and one year later gave her first public performance with the Chongju Chamber Orchestra in Haydn’s Concerto in D Major. Her professional solo career in Korea began at the age of fourteen, and she has been appearing as soloist in Korea numerous times every year. Her live performances and recordings are frequently broadcast in Korea on national television and radio.
At 16, Jasmine Choi came to the United States when she was accepted to study at the Curtis Institute of Music on a full-scholarship. The legendary Julius Baker has called her “a huge sensation,” and she studied with him for four years until his death in 2003. Jasmine Choi holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School where she studied with Jeffrey Khaner. Upon her graduation, she continued her studying by working with Thomas Robertello.
Adventurous in expanding the repertoire for flute, Jasmine Choi performs her own arrangements of the violin concertos of Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky, as well as numerous violin and cello sonatas. Also active on the contemporary classical music scene, her commissions include works by Korean-American composers Solbong Kim and James Ra, and she frequently performs the works of Isang Yun.
Jasmine Choi has served as a member of both the Astral Winds (woodwind quintet) and Trio Morisot (flute, viola, harp). An avid chamber musician who performs regularly with members of the Cincinnati Symphony, she has attended the Marlboro Music, Pacific Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute, and Carnegie Hall’s Professional Workshop under Michael Tilson Thomas.
An exclusive Sony Classical artist in Korea, her recordings “Jasmine Choi Plays Mozart” and “Fantasy” received rave reviews and her next album will be released by summer of 2012.