Music Director

Award winning violinist and violist, Samuel Choi pursues a multifaceted music career. Choi received his Master of Music Degree from the Colburn Conservatory of Music, Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School of Music and Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Toronto. Choi is currently the Artistic Director of the OYMI Music Festival and the Music Director of the Canada Youth Chamber Orchestra. In 2022, Choi was appointed Principal Viola of the Ontario Philharmonic Orchestra. A highly sought after teacher, Choi's violin and chamber music students have been accepted into McGill University Schulic School of Music, University of Toronto Faculty of Music UBC School of Music, Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra and have won 1st Prizes in OMFA Provincial Finals, GOCAA International Competition, Toronto Kiwanis Festival, North York Music Festival etc.

In 2018, Choi was the concertmaster of the Collegium Musicum Chamber Orchestra in Germany where the orchestra recorded with the Bayerischer Rundfunk Nürnberg (Bavarian Radio Station, Nuremberg, Germany). In 2023, Choi conducted the joint concert of the OYMCO and Selangor Philharmonic Orchestra in Malaysia, subsequently winning the International Excellence in Conducting by the Malaysian International Culture and Arts United Association. As a conductor, Choi has adjudicated and worked with Earl Haig Claude Watson Senior Strings Orchestra, Markville Symphonic String Orchestra, A.Y. Jackson Symphony Orchestra, St. Andrew's String Orchestra, Port Credit Chamber Strings Orchestra and many other school orchestras in GTA.

As an orchestral and chamber musician, Choi has collaborated with world renowned artists such as Gustavo Dudamel, Esa Pekka Salonen, Lang Lang, James Ehnes, Leon Fleischer, Sir Andrew Davis, Peter Oundjian, Gabor Tackacs Nagy, Jan Vogler, James Gaffigan, Petr Popelka and Andras Keller.