ABOUT US
Formed in 2022, TRIO SEOUL’s violinist Jinjoo Cho, cellist Brannon Cho, and pianist Kyu Yeon Kim are winners and laureates of more than 20 international competitions and awards combined. (see below for individual bio) The ensemble was formed with a mission to combine forces between three members who identify as the 21st century musician, actively performing on the world's greatest concert halls while presenting creative projects in collaboration with artists of various fields including composers, choreographers, writers, and visual artists.
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트리오 서울은 피아니스트 김규연, 바이올리니스트 조진주, 첼리스트 브래넌 조로 이루어진 피아노 트리오 앙상블이다. 세계를 무대로 활동하는 세 아티스트의 뿌리인 서울을 상징으로 삼아 창단하였으며, 고전적 레퍼토리를 최고의 수준으로 연주함과 동시에 한국 출신 작곡가, 안무가, 설치 미술가 등 여러 분야 아티스트와의 감각적 협업을 통해 가장 한국적이면서도 현대적인 다양성을 발견하고 발전시켜나가고자 한다.
VIOLINIST JINJOO CHO
www.jinjoocho.com
A charismatic and deeply communicative artist, violinist Jinjoo Cho has appeared as a soloist with leading orchestras, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Orquesta Clásica Santa Cecilia de Madrid, Ensemble Appassionato (France), Seoul Philharmonic, as well as the North Carolina, Phoenix, and Charlotte symphonies. She has collaborated with renowned conductors such as Karina Canellakis, JoAnn Falletta, Michael Francis, James Gaffigan, Moritz Gnann, Mathieu Herzog, Pietari Inkinen, Tito Muñoz, Kent Nagano, Peter Oundjian, Clemens Schuldt, Michael Stern, and Shi-Yeon Sung.
Equally devoted to chamber music, Jinjoo shares the stage with distinguished international artists including Ray Chen, Vadim Gluzman, Itamar Golan, Clive Greensmith, Gary Hoffman, Jaime Laredo, Andreas Ottensamer, Sharon Robinson and Roger Tapping. In 2021, she co-founded the Trio Seoul with pianist Kyu Yeon Kim and cellist Brannon Cho.
Winner of 1st prizes at prestigious international competitions — Indianapolis, Montreal, Buenos Aires, Schoenfeld, and Stulberg—Jinjoo has captivated audiences worldwide since the age of 11. Her international career spans major concert halls and festivals: Carnegie Hall (Stern Auditorium), Aspen Music Festival, Gilmore Festival, and La Jolla SummerFest (USA); the Banff Centre and Festival de Lanaudière (Canada); La Seine Musicale and Festival d’Aigues-Vives (France); Kronberg Academy, Schwetzingen Festival, and the Herkulessaal (Germany); Teatro Colón (Argentina); and the Seoul Arts Center (Korea).
A passionate educator and arts leader, Jinjoo is the Founding Artistic Director of the ENCORE Chamber Music Institute and she currently serves as Associate Professor of Violin at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. She has previously taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, and the Schulich School of Music at McGill University (Canada). As a mentor and advocate for young artists, she has served on the jury of international competitions such as the Indianapolis Violin Competition (2022), Schoenfeld (China, 2024), and selection committees for the Montreal Competition (2019, 2023) and the Premio Paganini (Italy, 2023).
Jinjoo’s discography includes four acclaimed albums: Saint-Saëns (Naïve Classique), La Capricieuse (Sony Classical), The Indianapolis Commissions (Azica), and Jinjoo Cho (Analekta). Praised for her “silken thread of violin sound” (Rondo Magazine) and “delightful curtain raiser” (Strad Magazine), her recordings have received both critical acclaim and commercial success. Her artistic curiosity extends to interdisciplinary collaborations — such as with choreographer Jinyeob Cha — and to commissioning new works by composers like Juri Seo and Andrew Rindfleisch.
In 2021, she published her first book, Shine Someday, which became a bestseller on Korea’s major literary platforms. Jinjoo’s artistry is deeply shaped by her mentors Paul Kantor and Jaime Laredo at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she graduated.
Individual Bios
PIANIST KYU YEON KIM
www.kyuyeonkim.co.kr
Kyu Yeon Kim is among the prize winners of Dublin International Piano Competition, Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition, Cleveland International Piano Competition, Gina Bachauer International Young Artists Piano Competition, Geneva International Music Competition and Missouri Southern International Piano Competition.
Kyu Yeon has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Severance Hall, BOZAR, Jordan Hall, Seoul Arts Center, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, New World Center in Miami, Penderecki European Centre for Music, TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht and Opera de Rennes.
She has appeared as a soloist with a number of orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, New World Symphony, National Orchestra of Belgium, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonietta Cracovia, Utah Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Hungarian Chamber Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra and the RTE National Symphony Orchestra. As an avid chamber musician, she was invited to perform at the Casals Festival in France, Emanacje Festival in Poland, Great Mountains Winter Festival, Seoul Spring Festival, Miami Chamber Music Festival and Seoul International Music Festival.
Born in Seoul, Kyu Yeon Kim studied at the Korean National University of Arts with Choong-Mo Kang and later at the Universität der Künste in Berlin with Klaus Hellwig. Kim is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music (Diploma), New England Conservatory (MM), the Cleveland Institute of Music (Artist Diploma) and Manhattan School of Music (DMA) where she worked with Gary Graffman, Russell Sherman, Sergei Babayan and Solomon Mikowsky.
Her debut album Rameau & Schubert was released by DUX label in 2017 and her second album Voyage was released by Sony Classical in 2021.
She currently serves as an associate professor of piano at Seoul National University.
CELLIST BRANNON CHO
www.brannoncho.com
Praised for his “burnished tone, spellbinding technique, and probing musical mind” (Boston Classical Review), cellist Brannon Cho has emerged as an outstanding artist of his generation. He is the First Prize winner of the prestigious 6th International Paulo Cello Competition, and is also a top prize winner of the Queen Elisabeth, Naumburg, and Cassadó International Cello Competitions.
Most recently, Brannon Cho is the recipient of the 2020 Janos Starker Foundation Award, the Landgraf von Hessen Prize from Kronberg Academy, the 2019 Ivan Galamian Award previously held by James Ehnes, and is a scholarship holder in the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation.
Brannon Cho has appeared as a soloist with many of the top orchestras around the world, including the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Belgian National Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and Brussels Philharmonic under world-renowned conductors such as Susanna Mälkki, Stéphane Denève, Christian Arming, and Hugh Wolff.
As a lover of chamber music, Brannon Cho is a founding member of two groups: Trio Seoul with violinist Jinjoo Cho and pianist Kyu Yeon Kim, and a string trio with violinist Stella Chen and violist Matthew Lipman. Trio Seoul's recent recitals took place in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toronto, and Montreal, among others. The string trio had its debut recital at Kronberg Academy's 2023 Alumni Festival to critical acclaim, and has had recent recitals in Jordan Hall, at Rockport Music, and at the Ravinia Festival.
Brannon Cho’s recent and upcoming performance highlights include Carnegie Hall's Zankel and Weill Halls, Wigmore Hall, Han-Na Chang’s Daejeon Grand Festival, Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Rheingau Musik Festival, Vancouver Chamber Music Society, Cello Biënnale Amsterdam, Music in Pyeongchang, and Seoul Arts Center. Recently, he replaced Alisa Weilerstein in Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante with the Belgian National Orchestra to critical acclaim.
Born in New Jersey, Brannon Cho received his Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music under Hans Jørgen Jensen. He was awarded the prestigious Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Laurence Lesser. He also studied with Frans Helmerson in the Professional Studies program at Kronberg Academy. Beginning in 2025, Brannon Cho has joined the faculty at the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings, and Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music.
Brannon Cho is sponsored by Thomastik-Infeld, and performs on a rare cello made by Antonio Casini in 1668 in Modena, Italy.