Jennifer Choi
Jennifer Choi has charted a career that breaks through the conventional boundaries of solo violin, chamber music, and the art of improvisation. Hailed by The New York Times as an “excellent violinist,” and by Time Out New York as “passionate,” and “adventurous”, Jennifer has performed worldwide in venues such as the Library of Congress in Washington D. C. , the RAI National Radio in Rome, the Mozartsalle in Vienna since giving her debut recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall as Winner of the Artists International Competition in 2000. Having gained a significant reputation as “a leading New York new music violinist,” (Boston Globe) she has pioneered new works and engaging performances to the forefront, and continues to play an integral part of this century’s movement towards bringing contemporary music into the mainstream vernacular of live classical music.
Jennifer’s 2016 season highlights include a collaboration with TALUJON Percussion Ensemble in Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Violin and Percussion, performances of Györgi Ligeti’s Horn Trio, and new and improvised projects with composer/performers Ches Smith, Trevor Dunn, and Jerome Begin.
A frequent collaborator with living composers, Jennifer has performed solo works written for her including Randall Woolf’s Holding Fast for violin and video, Wadada Leo Smith’s violin concerto Afrikana 2, Orlando Garcia’s violin concerto Una Marea Cresciente, and Susie Ibarra’s Black and White for violin and pre-recorded sounds. She has also given numerous world premieres of solo and chamber works by John Zorn, and U. S. premieres of Jacob TV and Helmut Lachenmann and can be heard on over a dozen albums for TZADIK record label, New Focus Records, Starkland label, and on her self-released album, Violectrica- Works for Solo Violin and Electronics.
A prominent chamber musician, Jennifer was a former violinist of the Miró String Quartet. With her involvement, the group won Grand Prize at the 1996 Fischoff and Coleman chamber music competitions. Since then, she has performed for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The Metropolitan and Guggenheim Museums, MOMA Summer Garden Series, Ravinia Festival, Barge Music, Caramoor Music, Strathmore Mansion series, Ridotto, and numerous other chamber music series across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. She joined ETHEL during their 2011-2012 season, and previous to that, was member of Fireworks Ensemble and Sirius String Quartet. Jennifer continues to perform regularly with some of the best ensembles in the continent. She currently is a violinist of Either/Or Ensemble, Classical Jam, NOVUS Orchestra, and in the 2016 season, will begin performing with the East Coast Contemporary Ensemble (ECCE), and Ensemble Echappe.
In 2001, Jennifer found another voice with her violin through the art of improvisation when she joined the Susie Ibarra Trio with drummer, Susie Ibarra and pianist, Craig Taborn. Her first show as an improvisor was at the Walker Museum of Art in Minneapolis. From that day forward, she began a dual career as a creative improvisor with tours of Europe and North America and recorded two discs with the trio on TZADIK label, Song Bird Suite and Folkloriko. Since then, she has found an ambling accord between classical and improvised repertoire, and a deep source of expression through performances that combine both techniques.
A dedicated music educator, Jennifer is a Teaching Artist for the New York Philharmonic Education Department, and the 92nd Street Y. She has created in-school curriculums, given lectures, and instrument demonstrations to over 1000 school children. She has also served numerous residencies and continues to give master classes, composer readings, and recitals at universities around the world including of the Vermont College of Fine Arts, the University Freiburg, Shanghai Conservatory, Zhengzhou University, Mannes School of Music, Oberlin, Tulane University, among others. Currently, she is adjunct faculty at The New School and has a private studio of her own in New York City.
Jennifer holds degrees from the Juilliard School and Oberlin Conservatory of Music where she studied with the late Dorothy DeLay, Naoko Tanaka, Robert Mann, Roland and Almita Vamos, Gregory Fulkerson, and Camilla Wicks. She can be heard on the award winning Amazon Prime series, Mozart In the Jungle, where she served as recording artist and primary violin coach for the actor and Golden Globe recipient, Gael Garcia Bernal, and all subsequent actors that play the violin on the show.