A daring cellist with intense and flamboyant playing.” – Le Soir
“She captured the hearts of the audience and judges with her boldness and her inward-looking as well as expressive playing.” – RTBF

Korean cellist Hayoung Choi sprang to fame after clinching the First Prize at major international cello competitions — the 2022 Queen Elisabeth Competition for Cello, the Krzysztof Penderecki International Cello Competition, and the Johannes Brahms International Competition.

Other international prizes she has garnered recently include the “Landgrave of Hesse Prize” at the Kronberg Cello Masterclasses and the inaugural FENDI Music Award.

During the past few seasons, she has appeared with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra, Kosice Philharmonic Orchestra, Krakow Philharmonic, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Classical Players and Korea’s KBS Symphony Orchestra.

Her 2023/24 engagements included appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (July 2024), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, European Union Youth Orchestra and Filarmônica de Minas Gerais.

A native of Bielefeld, Germany, Choi, 26, made her debut with Camerata Salzburg performing Haydn’s Cello Concerto No.1 at the age of twelve. Since then, she has performed with numerous orchestras such as Kremerata Baltica Orchestra, Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra, Barcelona Chamber Orchestra and Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra. She was invited to play at international music festivals — the Amsterdam Cello Biennale, Kronberg Cello Festival, City of London Festival and Parades Pablo Casals Festival.
As a chamber musician, she has performed with musicians like András Schiff, Gidon Kremer, Christian Tetzlaff, Kim Kashkashian, Jörg Widmann and Mitsuko Uchida.

She studied at the Korean National Univeristy of Arts with Myung-Wha Chung and Hyongwon Chang. She attended the Purcell School in England and received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the Kronberg Academy in Germany where her teacher was Frans Helmerson. Later, she completed a professional studies program in Kronberg, studying with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt. Her current teacher is Ivan Monighetti at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain.

She plays the 1707 ex-Starker Joseph filius Andrea Guarnerius cello on loan from an anonymous donor.