Monday, July 20, 2015

Daniel Choo: 3rd Prize, Violin, Cat.B | 2015


Daniel, son of Hahn and Eunkyung Choo, was born in Los Alamos, New Mexico in 2000 and has been playing violin since 2006. He is a freshman at Farragut High School in Knoxville, Tennessee and studies violin under Dr. Miroslav Hristov at the University of Tennessee (UT) School of Music.

Daniel made his concerto debut when he was nine years old, performing as a soloist with the Oak Ridge Symphony Youth Orchestra. Later, he performed as a soloist with the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra (KSYO) and Maryville College Orchestra. Daniel will make his Carnegie Hall debut as a violin soloist performing at the Weill Hall, Carnegie Center, NY as a second prize winner of the 2015 American Protégé International Concerto Competition.

Daniel is the first prize winner of: 2015 Tennessee Music Teachers Association (TMTA) State Competition (Senior Strings Division), 2015 Knoxville Choral Society’s Young Classical Musician Competition, 2014-15 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) State Competition (Junior Strings Division), 2013-14 KSYO Concerto Competition, 2014 Maryville Showcase of Area Artists Concerto Competition, and 2010 Oak Ridge Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition (Junior Division). He was also a prizewinner at other numerous classical music competitions and events including the Young Artist Masters Competition at the Sonata Festival hosted by the Appalachian Classical Music Association (ACMA), TMTA and MTNA State Competitions, and the annual Youth Aliyah Concerts in Oak Ridge.

In addition to his activities as a violin soloist, Daniel has been an active member of the KSYO since 2007, where he currently plays the first violin for the Youth Orchestra and was the concertmaster for the Sinfonia Orchestra in 2011. He is also the first violinist of the Fourza String Quartet, a UT pre-college string ensemble. He regularly participates in musical events such as the Violin Festival at UT, KSYO Summer String Camp, Youth Aliyah Concerts in Oak Ridge, and the Sonata Festival hosted by ACMA. Moreover, he has been helping younger musicians as a volunteer rehearsal assistant for the KSYO since 2009.