.png)
Cellist Joanne Yesol Choi awarded $30,000 Virginia Parker Prize for artistic excellence and leadership
Cellist, educator, and artistic director Joanne Yesol Choi has been named the 2025 recipient of the prestigious Virginia Parker Prize, a $30,000 award presented by the Canada Council for the Arts to a young classical artist of exceptional talent and promise.
Established in 1982, the Virginia Parker Prize is awarded annually to a Canadian classical singer, instrumentalist, or conductor under the age of 32 who demonstrates not only outstanding musicianship and artistic merit, but also a meaningful contribution to Canada’s cultural life and presence on the international stage.
Choi, a Korean-Canadian musician, is widely recognized for her dynamic artistry and commitment to reimagining the role of classical music in today’s world. A passionate chamber musician, she is a founding member of the Dior Quartet—an ensemble acclaimed for its vibrant interpretations and cultural depth. From 2021 to 2024, the group served as quartet-in-residence at the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music, performing on major stages including Carnegie Hall, Koerner Hall, Bravo! Vail, the Banff Centre, and Stanford University’s Bing Concert Hall.
The quartet's accolades include winning the 2023 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition and appearances at top international competitions such as the Banff and Melbourne International String Quartet Competitions.
In tandem with her performance career, Choi is deeply invested in music education and community engagement. She is the founder and artistic director of two major initiatives: Solegio Arts, a nonprofit organization focused on making world-class music education more accessible, and Art of Four, a string quartet program dedicated to nurturing the next generation of young string players.
Her commitment to mentorship has led her to faculty and guest roles at institutions such as Stanford University, the University of Toronto, the Royal Conservatory’s Taylor Academy and Oscar Peterson School of Music, as well as the PRIZM International Chamber Music Festival and the Mostly Modern Festival USA.
Choi holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where she studied with renowned teachers including Eric Kim, Brandon Vamos, and the Pacifica Quartet. Her collaborators in performance have included artists such as Orion Weiss, Phillip Setzer, Andrew Wan, Axel Strauss, and the Art of Time Ensemble.
Her formative years were shaped by experiences with the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and festival appearances at Toronto Summer Music, Snape Maltings’ Britten-Pears Young Artist Program, and Beethoven Haus in Bonn.
Beyond the concert stage, Choi has pursued artistic expression across disciplines. In 2024, she made her debut as a children’s book author with Blob the Colorful Star, illustrated by her mother Hyunah Yi and commissioned by Autism in Mind Charity. Her poem The Swan was featured on an EP by Bristol Lightning, and she has collaborated with a range of artists including pianist Gabriel Ólafs, singer-songwriter Mauvey, and musician Sarah Slean. She also appeared as a special skills actor in the Netflix series Bet and was once a Grandmaster-ranked Twitch streamer in the game League of Legends: Teamfight Tactics.
With her multifaceted career, Joanne Yesol Choi is helping to redefine what it means to be a classical musician in the 21st century. Through performance, education, authorship, and outreach, she is forging a path that is as visionary as it is inclusive—one that places accessibility, creativity, and connection at the heart of her work.
As the 2025 Virginia Parker Prize laureate, Choi stands as a leading voice in Canada’s classical music landscape—an artist who honours tradition while boldly charting new ground.