Arnold Choi
Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra; Mount Royal University, Calgary, Canada
Described by the New York Times as having a “rich tone, and muscular style,” Canadian cellist Arnold Choi has performed to great acclaim throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. He is a prize-winner of Korea’s Gyeongnam (Isang Yun) International Cello Competition, and Mexico’s Carlos Prieto International cello competition. Choi has also won the grand prize at numerous competitions throughout North America including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition, the Kingsville International String Competition, the Canadian National Music Festival, the CMC Stepping Stone Competition, and the Shean Competition, among others.
Choi has performed as soloist with several orchestras around the world including the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Okanagan Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Calgary Civic Symphony, the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Opera House Orchestra, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, and the Banff Festival Orchestra. At the age of 14, he gave his first solo recital tour in Mexico. Since then, he has given several recital tours throughout North America as a soloist and chamber musician.
As a former member of the Janaki String Trio, Choi received the Grand Prize at the prestigious Coleman Chamber Music Competition and the Concert Artists Guild International Competition in 2006. The trio has performed and toured extensively throughout the United States, playing in major chamber music venues including Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Centre, and the Kennedy Centre. They also toured Australia with celebrated Australian pianist Kathy Selby and played at the American Academy in Rome.
Choi’s discography includes two Janaki Trio albums with Naxos and Yarlung Records, and most recently, six volumes of cello repertoire with pianist Peter Longworth for the Royal Conservatory of Music books published by Frederick Harris Music. These recordings are used as pedagogical tools for young beginners to advanced cellists nationwide.
Choi began his cello studies with John Kadz at Mount Royal College Conservatory in Calgary before receiving his bachelor of music degree from Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles in 2009, studying with Ronald Leonard. Following that he received his master of music degree and artist diploma from Yale School of Music as a student of Aldo Parisot. In 2017 he received his doctorate of musical arts degree from Stony Brook University in New York, where he was under the tutelage of Colin Carr. Choi serves as the principal cellist of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and is on the cello faculty at Mount Royal University. He currently performs on a cello by an unknown maker, ca. 1880, from the School of Caussin in France.
