JENNIFER CHOI - BIOGRAPHY
Hailed by Time Out New York as "one of New York's most reliably adventurous performers", violinist Jennifer Choi has charted a career that breaks through the conventional boundaries of solo violin, chamber music, and the art of creative improvisation. Internationally recognized as a performer with "brilliance and command," (The New York Times), "a leading New York new-music violinist that plays it with fiery authority" (Boston Globe), and with "intense, spectacularly virtuosic play" (The Seattle Weekly), Jennifer brings her strong classical background and dedication to whatever work she decides to take on from Bach to Zorn and back.
Ms. Choi is regularly sighted in solo performances of rare works that stretch the limits of violin playing often calling for extended techniques, improvisation, and the use of electronics. In 2006 she received a grant from the New York State Music Fund for the premiere and performances of Holding Fast for violin and video written for her by Randall Woolf. She also gave the world premiere of John Zorn's solo violin work, Goetia at the Guggenheim Museum, as well as the U.S. premieres of Jacob ter Veldhuis Capriccio and Helmut Lachenmann’s Toccatina. She can be heard on over a dozen albums for TZADIK record label in compositions by new music icons such as John Zorn, Elliott Sharp, Wadada Leo Smith, and the Susie Ibarra Trio, and on her debut solo album, VIOLECTRICA- Works for Solo Violin and Electronics.
A prominent chamber musician, Jennifer was former violinist of the Miró String Quartet. With her involvement, the group won Grand Prize at the 1996 Fischoff and Coleman chamber music competitions. Since then, she has performed for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Ravinia Festival, Barge Music, Caramoor Music, and other chamber music series across the United States. She has been also been a member of Fireworks Ensemble and the Sirius String Quartet. Currently, Jennifer is the violinist of Classical Jam, the Either/Or Ensemble, the Susie Ibarra Quartet, Anti-Depressant Duo with Kathleen Supové and the newest member of ETHEL.
She has also performed worldwide in venues like the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., Alice Tully Hall in New York City, the RAI National Radio in Rome, the Mozartsalle in Vienna, and gave her debut recital in Carnegie Hall in April 2000 as Winner of the Artists International Competition. As a soloist Ms. Choi has recently performed the Brahms, Bach, Sibelius, and Beethoven concertos among others. During the 2009-2010 season, she served as Concertmaster for Lincoln Center’s National touring production of Roger’s and Hammerstein’s South Pacific.
A 21st Century Violinist Does It All
Jennifer Choi has a varied career, can play different styles, improvises, keeps up her classical chops, talks about creativity, and playing in an ensemble.
Playing multiple styles used to be difficult, but because of having to switch so often for various concerts, it became like second nature to Jennifer who embraces any new musical opportunities that come her way:
“It’s fun to be able to work with many different kinds of musicians and to try different styles of playing. I used to freak out when it was my turn to improvise a free jazz solo! But then, with a few rules that I set for myself, and a lot of help from my amazing collaborators that I have had the opportunity to play with, it became easier to make up material in the moment, and now, sometimes, I think OK, that’s pretty good!”
Jennifer’s major influences and frequent collaborators in improvisation include Erik Friedlander, Susie Ibarra, Ikue Mori, John Zorn, Wadada Leo Smith, Angelica Sanchez, Craig Taborn, and Kathleen Supové.
Keeping up with your Chops:
“Now that’s hard and requires constant discipline, or guilt for not practicing enough-whichever comes first. But I think that no matter what kind of music you want to play- rock, jazz, classical-the standard methods of violin technique have been tested tried and true, so I follow what my wonderful teachers have taught me.”
Favorite methods are Schradieck, Sevick, Etudes, Paganini Caprices, and Bach. Jennifer’s major teachers were Roland and Almita Vamos, Gregory Fulkerson, Dorothy DeLay, and Naoko Tanaka.
What creativity means for Jennifer Choi:
“To me, creativity is trying new and adventurous music out and performing it for the public, pushing the envelope on the audience in what they hear and even using the audience’s participation at times. Improvisation is a big part of what I do and probably the most creative thing a musician can do because it’s all about creating music in the moment, setting perimeters on the spot and making it work!”
On playing in an ensemble:
“Playing music in an ensemble is like playing sports on a team. You can have some great teams, and you have some mediocre ones! Most of the time, an ensemble is great when there is a good leader, and/or there are great dynamics between the players in the group. Of course, it’s ideal to have everyone be on the same level of talent, or at least be able to deliver certain strengths to cover another’s weakness. It’s exactly the same in playing music in a group. I have learned so much by being in several different ensembles over the years and have found it to be one of the most fulfilling parts of my career."
What thinking outside of established channels means:
“Go where your heart will take you. This was not always an easy thing to do for me. At first, I thought I had to play only classical music and that I would not be a worthy musician otherwise, but internally, this became such a struggle because I had this natural gift for the avant-garde that I was not embracing! So in the beginning it felt like a game of roulette. One day it was a classical concert at Steinway Hall that I told everyone about, then the next day, something totally ‘out’ like an underground free-jazz improv concert downtown that I told to no one! It took a good 5-6 years of this silly game before I started accepting what I was doing. Now it’s finally becoming like second nature to swerve in and out of styles. At the same time, audiences have become much more open-minded and accustomed to multiple and cross genres, and as always appreciative of great art and great music."