Pyunghwa Peace Choi

Pyunghwa Peace Choi, age 19, began her violin studies at the age of 4 in Seoul, South Korea. Seven years later, she moved to De Kalb, Illinois where she studied at the NIU Community School of Arts. She won a top prize at the 2002 NIU Community School of the Arts' Talent Scholarship Competition, the 2003 Mendelssohn Club Scholarship Competition, the 2005 Baldwin Midwest Piano Competition, and the 2007 District 214 Honors Orchestra Concerto Competition. She also served as concertmistress in her high school orchestras and in the KMEA All-State Orchestra, and she received awards including Orchestra award, Music award, and Conductor's award. Additionally, she performed a solo with District 214 Honors Orchestra and a duet with Shawnee Mission Chamber Orchestra. She is a recipient of the George M. Pullman Scholarship and the Virtu Foundation Musical Instrument Scholarship. Her teachers have included Ji-Eun Kim, Ann Montzka-Smelser, Benny Kim, and Shmuel Ashkenasi. Currently, she studies with Mark Kaplan at the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University in Bloomington.