Soo-Yeoul Choi, Conductor

Soo-Yeoul Choi is the principal guest conductor of the Korean Chamber Orchestra, the oldest chamber orchestra in South Korea. Prior posts include the artistic director and chief conductor of the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra (2017-2023) and the associate conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (2014-2017), working with its director, Myung-Whun Chung and its composer-in-residence, Unsuk Chin.

With BPO, Choi performed the complete tone poems of Richard Strauss (2017-2019) and Ravel’s orchestral works (2020-2022). He enjoys giving life to music by living composers on stage and is especially passionate about the music of Korean composers Isang Yun, Unsuk Chin, Donghoon Shin and Texu Kim.

After studying at the Korea National University of Arts, he continued further training at Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden as a recipient of the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) scholarship. At the same time, he participated in the prestigious International Ensemble Modern Academy as its conducting fellow.

Soo-Yeoul Choi participated in the final round of the 50th Besançon International Conducting Competition and assisted maestros such as Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Christoph Eschenbach, and Peter Eötvös. His conducting engagements include MDR sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Jena Philharmonic Orchestra, Cologne Chamber Orchestra, China NCPA Orchestra, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra and most major orchestras in Korea. He has also frequently performed with the National Orchestra of Korea and Ensemble TIMF for several years.