Catherine Cho

Catherine Cho is recognized for her remarkable virtuosity, combining technical mastery of her instrument with an extraordinary and distinctive musicality. Praised by The New York Times for her "sublime tone", she has appeared worldwide as soloist with many orchestras and chamber ensembles as well as in recital. Her repertoire ranges from the traditional works by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Brahms to those of Bartók, Korngold and Berg, in addition to music of our time.

Catherine Cho's orchestral engagements have included appearances with the Detroit, Montreal, and Washington DC's National Symphony orchestras, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, the Edmonton Symphony, the Korean Broadcasting Symphony, the symphony orchestras of Barcelona, Haifa, and New Zealand, the Het Gelders Orkest in Holland, the Orchestra of the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, and the Aspen Chamber Symphony performing with distinguished conductors such as Mstislav Rostropovich, Robert Spano, Sixten Ehrling, Hugh Wolff, and Franz-Paul Decker. A regular guest on tour with "Musicians from Marlboro", Ms. Cho has also been a frequent participant in their summer Music Festival in Vermont since 1993.

She has performed as special guest soloist with the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center for two ballets by renowned choreographer Peter Martins including the New York premiere of his ballet Viva Verdi. Her concert performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, with the Buffalo Philharmonic under the baton of Jo-Ann Falletta, was taped live and broadcast nationwide on National Public Television in January 2002. In broadcasts heard around the world, Catherine Cho has appeared on such stations as Radio Frankfurt (Germany), CBC (Canada), WQXR (New York City), and National Public Radio. Her performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons with the Korean Chamber Ensemble was recorded live and released on Credia Classics.

As a recitalist and chamber musician, Catherine Cho has performed on the prestigious stages of Alice Tully Hall with the Chamber Music Society at New York's Lincoln Center, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Casals Hall in Tokyo, the Seoul Arts Center, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Boston, and on Ravinia's "Rising Stars" series in Chicago. She has performed the complete cycle of Violin Sonatas by Beethoven at HOAM Art Hall in Seoul, Korea with pianist, Mia Chung, and a recital of five Beethoven Sonatas at the Rockport Chamber Music Festival. Ms. Cho has appeared at the Aspen, Marlboro, Bridgehampton, Eastern Shore, Santa Fe, and Skaneateles Festivals as well as at Bargemusic and Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, OR. She has collaborated with such renowned artists as Richard Stoltzman, Andras Schiff, Anton Kuerti, Mitsuko Uchida; the members from the Guarneri, Orion and Juilliard String Quartets, and the Beaux-Arts Trio. She has been invited for several summers to teach at Mark O'Connor's String Conference in San Diego where she has collaborated with Mark O'Connor and Natalie MacMaster. Ms. Cho was a member of the Johannes String Quartet from 2003 to 2006, and is a founding member of the chamber ensemble, La Fenice.

Among her various awards, scholarships, and achievements, Ms. Cho was a recipient of both the 1995 Avery Fisher Career Grant and, Korea's 1995 World Leaders of Tomorrow Award as presented by the Korea Central Daily News in recognition of outstanding achievement and commendable leadership in the Arts. She was the recipient of the 1994 Sony ES Award for Musical Excellence; a top prize winner at the 1991 Hannover International Violin Competition, the 1989 Queen Elizabeth Music Competition of Belgium, the 1987 Montreal International Music Competition. In 1995 Catherine Cho served on the jury of the Montreal International Violin Competition. In 1996 she was selected for the Janet and Avery Fisher Music Residency Program at Goucher College. Ms. Cho holds a Masters Degree from The Juilliard School where she studied with Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang, and coached chamber music with Felix Galimir. Her former teachers include Ruggiero Ricci, Franco Gulli, and Michael Avsharian. Ms. Cho is a faculty member of The Juilliard School, and has taught at the Heifetz Institute, Killington Music Festival, Seoul Music Festival, Starling-DeLay Symposium, Perlman Music Program, Great Mountains Music School and Festival, and coached chamber music at the New York String Seminar.

Devoted to the cause of promoting peace through music, Catherine Cho was VP of the Board of Musicians For Harmony for several years, and is an artist member of Music For Food, a musician led initiative to fight hunger in our local communities.

Catherine lives in Brooklyn, NY with her devoted husband, Todd Phillips, and her sweet son, Brandon. She is the stepmom of three lovely stepchildren, Lia, Eliza, and Jason. When she is away from her teaching and performances, you may find Catherine making soup in her crock pot, baking, practicing yoga, catching up with the New York Times, or creating crafts with her family.