CelloYouna Choi

Youna Choi currently serves as an acting section cellist with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, alongside her roles as principal cellist of the New West Symphony and a member of the Long Beach Symphony.

Ms. Choi has been featured frequently at Carnegie Hall in New York, the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Marine Biological Laboratory, and the Nantucket Atheneum in Massachusetts, both as a soloist and chamber musician. Her achievements include awards and scholarships from the David Weiss Scholarship Competition, the Rio Hondo Competition and numerous national competitions in Korea.

She debuted the Walton Cello Concerto with the Colburn Orchestra as the winner of their Concerto Competition at the Ambassador Auditorium, conducted by Maestro Courtney Lewis, Music Director of the Jacksonville Symphony. Ms. Choi has also performed under the baton of renowned conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Simon Rattle, Vladimir Jurowski, Rossen Milanov, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Robert Spano, Osmo Vänskä and Michael Tilson Thomas.

As a founding member of the Arancia Quartet, Ms. Choi has participated in numerous recital series sponsored by the city of Seoul. The ensemble was nominated as a winner of the Manhattan International Music Competition and made their Carnegie Hall debut in 2022. Additionally, the Arancia Quartet was invited to participate in the 2022 ARD International Chamber Music Competition and was a semi-finalist in the 2023 Mozart International Competition. The ensemble has also been named a special prize winner of the Astor Piazzolla International Music Competition for the chamber division.

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Youna Choi studied with Peter Wiley and Carter Brey at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she earned a bachelor’s degree. She furthered her studies with Clive Greensmith at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, obtaining an Artist Diploma and Master of Music.