
Ye-Eun Choi
“An outstanding reputation precedes the 30-year-old violinist Ye-Eun Choi. Everyone is enthusiastic about her unique style and individual expressiveness on the instrument. (…) Attractive and highly emotional. And indeed: The famous Violin Concerto op. 47 by Jean Sibelius was performed by Ye-Eun Choi with a breathing style and a bewitchingly beautiful and multifaceted tone, which I have seldom experienced in this clarity. Practically without any usual playing noises, she wield the bow and formed emotional as well as virtuoso phrasings and double stops with a playful lightness. As a result Ye-Eun Choi reached a great musical breadth and depth. With that she gave every little sound its significance as a whole. The most complicated sounds and arpeggios seemed brilliant and with overtone-rich radiance. In an individual way, the soloist also introduced the pithy final movement, which Sibelius himself called "dance macabre". Ye-Eun Choi renounced the percussive parts and enthused everyone with the dark and rich tone of the main theme.” (Silvia Thurner, KULTUR)
Violinist Ye-Eun Choi is defined by her dynamic sound, rich with vibrant timbre, sensitivity and nuance. Her colorful, expressive lyricism and virtuosity has earned her acclaim for her engagements as both a soloist and a chamber musician.
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“She is a musician who looks to express herself in her own individual way, who has a distinguished, recognizable sound and commands an excellent, instinctive feel for the music. This is precisely what is naturally required from a soloist: someone who does not just perform a piece, but makes it her own. She ranks among the most talented of violinists.” (Anne Sophie Mutter)
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A long-standing relationship connects Choi and Mutter, two artists who often share the stage as they will do this and in the next season performing chamber music throughout Europe, US, and Asia, together with the cellists Daniel Müller Schott and Kian Soltani, as well as viola player Vladimir Babeshko. Extensive concert tours will bring them to the most established concert halls such as Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Palau de la Musica Catalana, Carnegie Hall New York, Davis Symphony Hall San Francisco, Suntory Hall Tokyo, among others.
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Recent and future seasons include performances with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and Neeme Järvi, NHK Symphony Orchestra and Stéphane Denève, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and Joseph Swensen, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Krzysztof Penderecki (Violin Concerto “Metamorphosen”), the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Rory McDonald, the Girona Orchestra, Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Orchestre de Chambre de Luxembourg, among others.
Highlights of the last seasons included concerts with the Orchestre National de France under Riccardo Muti in Paris, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in cooperation with the orchestra of the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich under the baton of Mariss Jansons, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under JiÅ™í BÄ›lohlávek, Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jaap van Zweden, Bamberger Symphoniker under Christoph Eschenbach, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo under Manfred Honeck, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Fedoseyev, New York Phillharmonic Orchestra under Alan Gilbert, Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Kent Nagano, NHK Symphony Orchestra under Andre Previn, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Nicholas McGegan, and with the Osaka Philharmonic and Eiji Oue. She was re-invited by the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra to participate in a concert during the National Liberation Day of Korea.
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Ye-Eun Choi regularly appears at festivals such as Bergen International Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Moritzburg Festival, Verbier Festival, Blaricum Music Festival, La Folle Journée, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Marcel Proust’s Musical Days in Cabourg, among others.
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Ye-Eun Choi plays a violin from J.B. Guadagnini, Parma c. 1765.
Munich-based Ye-Eun Choi was born in Seoul. She made her orchestral debut at age 10 with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. She was discovered by Anne-Sophie Mutter at age 16, and since then Ye-Eun is scholar of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation. In 2004, she moved to Munich to study with Ana Chumachenco at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater. She graduated in 2014 with a Konzertexamen.
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Ye-Eun Choi is represented worldwide by Natalja Slobodyreva at Meta Artists International.
This approved biography is not to be altered or changed without consulting with the management of the artist.
violin | REPRESENTATION: General Management
Biography
Reviews
»The young South Korean, Ye-Eun Choi, is one of the world’s leading violinists who has performed with many renowned orchestras. The audience was thrilled by her interpretation of Krzysztof Pendericki’s highly philosophical and demanding Metamorphoses, also known as his 2nd Violin Concerto. Ye-Eun’s transparent, but at the same time carrying sound, became the jewel of the first half of the concert.«
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— Tatjana Mamaeva
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»Ye-Eun Choi convinced the audience with her mature playing and exquisite tone in both sonatas and also later with the Tchaikovsky-encore. She presented herself with a very unique sound; a rich, warm timbre which is composed from a highly sensitive soundscape and a dynamic enthusiasm: a combination that is rarely heard. It is not surprisingly that her colourful, expressive playing and astounding lyrical virtuosity is been celebrated by the media internationally. Also the Lilienberg audience was thrilled by her performance.«
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— Stefan Bachofen, Lilienberg Unternehmerforum
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»The young Korean violinist created with her pure, slender line an urgently yearning and a cutting pain, immediately in the beautiful entrance chant. Ye-Eun Choi played with glaze, without ever becoming corny. Bravely, the violinist mastered the musical fall cords of the highly virtuoso work, stretched the tension to tearing, and was propelled and driving in the dialogue with the orchestra. Her playing came out from deep inside. Even in the most furious moments, it retained its inner power and never fell into pure musical artistry.«
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— Eva-Maria Reuther, Volksfreund
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»[…] Just strings accompany with the engrossed canto, which Ye-Eun Choi intones on her dominant but sensually violin. After a few seconds her tone refines to tightness, abundance and unclouded brilliance. Then the music takes the audience away on waves of elegiac beauty.«
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— Michael Thumser, Fränkische Post
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»…a lush, beautiful sound and impressive technical facility.«
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— Elizabeth Bloom, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette