Press Reviews

Fiery and sensitive...this combination, riveting and fascinating on the one hand, transfigured and full of a sense of longing on the other. This was not an experiment any more, it was pure music.

S. Apfelbeck Passauer Neue Presse 28.05.2005

Choi is a true artist with the cello...full of the joy and zest of life

R. Müller Südkurier Konstanz 31.5.2005

Magnificent!

Konstanz, Germany 5/2004

A Chat with cellist Sang-Ung Choi

(Q)

Is creating Classical music any different than creating pop or jazz music?

(Choi)

Music is music, you just need to know your craft and what you are dealing with. Classical music is made up of many different elements. It deals with form, harmony, and the use of dissonance. But most of all, acoustic sound. Pop music focuses more on rhythm and melody, and text. The success of pop music has a lot to do with presentation, and who is behind the scenes.

(Q)

Mr. Choi, you are a true talent. How do you capture the texture of life and bring it to out musically?

(Choi)

Music is audible emotion; and as human beings, we all have our emotions. Even if we haven´t experienced them personally, we also have extreme emotions. It's all about our lives. It all happens so naturally, you just need to be open and honest to listen to yourself.

(Q)

Now you have a ”Fire“ concert with latino music, and later you´ll have an ”Ice“ concert with Asian elements. What´s your idea of this concept?

(Choi)

Think about fire and ice, both are naturally the representation of these extreme emotions. After the concerts are finished, fire and ice tend to overlap, like when you have blue fire. What you see is not really what you feel. Do you know freezer-burn? If you make something too cold, you´ll burn it. That can be done only with organic matter, like the music we are playing.

(Q)

Now we see your scientific background, thinking about your career switch, what is the moment, or trigger point that you decided to go for music?

(Choi)

I had just completed my Biology degree and was planning to go to medical school, and began thinking if there were anything that I still wanted to learn and see before starting the vigorous training of medicine. And that was music. As I started to study music intensively, I began to see changes in my perspective on life.

(Q)

You can sing, playing piano and violin, but why did you decide to stay with cello?

(Choi)

Cello for me is an instrument of love and hate, like fire and ice. With it, one can express emotional extremes. It´s the only instrument that brought out in me such an emotional experience. Of course, if I had been born with a better singing voice, I would be singing!