ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & FOUNDER

A charismatic soloist, dynamic chamber musician, dedicated teacher, artistic director, and published writer, South Korean violinist Jinjoo Cho is a classical virtuoso of the 21st Century.

Gold Medalist of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, Concours musical international de Montréal, and Buenos Aires, Schoenfeld, Stulberg Competitions, Jinjoo has toured extensively on concert stages around the world since her solo debut with the Seoul Philharmonic at the age of 11. Today, she continues to perform with leading orchestras such as The Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Deutsche Radio Philharmonic, Orquesta Clásica Santa Cecilia de Madrid, and North Carolina, Phoenix, Charlotte Symphonies while collaborating with prominent conductors such as Kent Nagano, James Gaffigan, JoAnn Falletta, Michael Stern, Tito Munoz, Michael Francis, Moritz Gnann, Karina Canellakis, Shi-Yeon Sung, Pietari Inkinen, and Clemens Schuldt. Jinjoo’s solo recitals and chamber music appearances take place in distinguished venues and festivals including the Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Herkulessaal (Munich), La Seine Musicale (Paris), Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), Banff Centre (Canada), Seoul Arts Center, Kumho Art Hall (Korea), Aspen Music Festival, Gilmore Festival, Music@Menlo, Perlman Music Program, La Jolla Music Society’s Summerfest (USA), Aigues-Vives Music Festival (France), Kronberg Academy, and Schwetzingen Festspiele (Germany).

Jinjoo’s recordings La Capricieuse (2020, SONY Classical), The Indianapolis Commissions (2018, Azica), and Jinjoo Cho (2007, Analekta) have garnered critical acclaim worldwide and commercial success in her home country of Korea. In 2021, a new Saint-Saëns album with Ensemble Appassionato, conducted by her dear friend Mathieu Herzog, was released by Naïve Classical.

In addition to her concert career, Jinjoo is passionate about performing in non-traditional venues such as hospitals, schools, senior homes, youth programs, and cafes, and finds joy in sharing music with people who may not have experienced live classical music. Her other passion projects include writing editorials for newspapers, magazines, and webzines as well as collaborating with artists of diverse disciplines for creative exploration. She has collaborated intimately with composer Juri Seo (a new work Toy Store premieres in December 2022), contemporary dancers Mimi Jung and Jin-Yeob Cha, and with various other visual artists, creators, actors, singer songwriters, film directors, novelists, and poets. In 2021, Jinjoo formed Trio Seoul with pianist Kyu Yeon Kim and cellist Brannon Cho to commission and perform more works by rising Korean composers, and her first book Would I Shine Someday was published and listed as highlighted best seller on major book platforms.

Jinjoo is currently Assistant Professor of Violin at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University. She previously served as faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Oberlin Conservatory, and has given masterclasses at eminent universities and conservatories including Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music, Rice University, Indiana University, and San Francisco Conservatory. Jinjoo’s students are regularly selected for prestigious programs and competitions such as the Verbier Festival Academy, International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove, Kronberg Academy Masterclasses, New York String Orchestra Seminar, Fellowship Program at Aspen Music Festival and School, and the Indianapolis, Sendai, Klein, Fischoff and Stulberg Competitions. In 2015, Jinjoo founded the ENCORE Chamber Music Institute (501(c)(3) non-profit), a summer festival that offers young string players an experience of true immersion as chamber musicians.

Most recently, Jinjoo was invited to serve as jury member at major international competitions. She served on the jury panel of the 2022 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, preliminary screening committee of the 2018 and 2023 Concours musical international de Montréal, and is scheduled to serve on the jury panel of the 2024 Schoenfeld International String Competition. Jinjoo’s dedication to nurturing the next generation of young musicians stems directly from the influence of her teachers Paul Kantor and Jaime Laredo.