Department of Music

Biography

Clarinetist and educator Jiyeon Choi joined the University of Virginia Arts & Sciences faculty as a lecturer in Clarinet and as Principal Clarinet with the Charlottesville Symphony in the fall of 2019. She also holds the Principal Clarinet position with the Sinfonia da Camera, Illinois. She is an advocate for contemporary music as well as specializing in standard solo, chamber and orchestral repertoire. Her primary research explores the chamber music of renowned German clarinetist and composer Jörg Widmann.

Choi previously served on the faculty of Purdue University and the Illinois Summer Youth Music program. She has collaborated with groups such as Ensemble VIM, PRIZM Ensemble and Seoul Clarinet Ensemble. She has performed with orchestras including the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Heartland Festival Orchestra, Millikin Decatur Symphony Orchestra, Springfield Choral Society and Champaign Urbana Symphony Orchestra.

She received solo and chamber awards from various competitions, including Misbin Chamber Competition, and was a runner-up in the Krannert Debut Artist Competition. She has performed in such prestigious venues as the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and Carnegie Hall, among others. She was a member of the National Orchestral Institute with a scholarship, TIMF Academy Orchestra and Orchestre de la Francophonie in Montreal.  In addition, she has been a resident artist at the Atlantic Music Festival. She can be heard on the Naxos recording American Classics Series: Randall Thompson, Symphony No. 2 under James Ross.

Jiyeon received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in music performance from University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, a Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from Ewha Womans University. Her principal teachers include J. David Harris, Kenneth Grant and Jeongmin Song.