Friday, June 12th

Korean-Canadian cellist Joanne Yesol Choi, recipient of the Canada Council’s 2025 Virginia Parker Prize and named one of CBC’s 30 Under 30 Canadian Musicians, is a distinguished artist, educator, and arts leader recognized for her dynamic work in chamber music and community engagement.

She is a founding member of the Dior Quartet, an ensemble praised for its artistic depth and cultural diversity. From 2021–2024, the quartet served as Quartet-in-Residence at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music. The ensemble won the 2023 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition and has appeared on major stages across North America, Europe, and Oceania, including Carnegie Hall, Koerner Hall, Stanford University’s Bing Concert Hall, Bravo! Vail, Tippet Rise Art Center, and the Banff International String Quartet Festival. The quartet has also competed at prestigious international competitions including the Banff and Melbourne International String Quartet Competitions.

Beyond performance, Joanne is deeply committed to mentorship and access. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Solegio Arts, a nonprofit dedicated to making high-level music education more accessible for young string players. Her work reflects a commitment to expanding opportunities for emerging musicians while fostering creativity, collaboration, and representation in classical music.

Joanne has served as a guest lecturer at Stanford University and the University of Toronto, and was on faculty at the PRIZM International Chamber Music Festival and Mostly Modern Festival USA. She has coached at the Phil and Eli Taylor Academy and Oscar Peterson School of Music, and served as an adjudicator for the 2026 Kiwanis Music Festival and the 2023 Don Banks Music Awards. A former Taylor Academy student herself, she returned to the Royal
Conservatory in 2021 as a Rebanks Family Fellow.

She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.
Outside of music, Joanne debuted as a children’s book author with Blob the Colorful Star, appeared as a special skills actor in Netflix’s Bet, and currently works with Music Toronto as a social media manager and correspondent.