Maestro Joseph Choi

Joseph Eunkwan Choi is an accomplished conductor, educator, and music director whose career spans professional orchestras, youth ensembles, educational institutions, and international guest conducting engagements throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.

He currently serves as Music Director of the Belleville Philharmonic Orchestra (Illinois), the Maryland Chamber Orchestra, and Sunnydale Adventist Academy (Missouri). He is also Assistant Conductor of the Missouri Academy of Music Virtuosi Orchestra in Columbia, Missouri, where he collaborates with internationally renowned conductor Maestro Kirk Trevor.

Throughout his career, Maestro Choi has held numerous artistic leadership positions, including Assistant Conductor of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra and the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, as well as Associate Conductor of the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra. He also served as Music Director of the Owensboro Symphony Youth Orchestra, Evansville Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Pocono Youth Symphony Orchestra, Loudoun Symphony Youth Orchestra, and Fletcher Academy, where he founded the Fletcher Chamber Orchestra. Under his leadership, these orchestras experienced significant artistic growth and expanded educational programming.

An active guest conductor, Maestro Choi has conducted ensembles including the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra, Jeju Symphony Orchestra, Gangneung Symphony Orchestra, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic, Beethoven Chamber Orchestra (Czech Republic), Lisboa Metropolitan Orchestra, St. Petersburg Congress Orchestra, Astoria Symphony, Knoxville Chamber Orchestra, East Texas Symphony, the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra, Hartt Symphony Orchestra, and the Southern Adventist University Symphony Orchestra.

Among his career highlights are his conducting debut at Carnegie Hall in 2015, leading the Oakwood University Aeolians, the Altino Brothers Chorale, distinguished soloists, and professional orchestra before a nearly sold-out audience. Earlier, he made his Kennedy Center Concert Hall debut conducting the Prince George's County All-County Orchestra. He has also been selected as a finalist for conducting positions with the U.S. Army Band, the U.S. Air Force Band, the New Jersey Symphony Youth Orchestra, and the Delaware Youth Orchestra.

Maestro Choi earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music, with studies in trumpet performance and conducting, from Southern Adventist University, where he served as Assistant Conductor of the university symphony orchestra and was later recognized as the university's 2009 Alumnus of the Year. He received the Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting from The Hartt School at the University of Hartford, studying with Maestro Harold Farberman while serving as Graduate Assistant to Dr. Thomas Duffy. He also pursued doctoral studies in orchestral conducting at Shenandoah Conservatory under Maestro Jan Wagner, participating in international orchestra tours to Argentina and Spain and conducting major symphonic repertoire, including Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5.

A dedicated advocate for music education and orchestral excellence, Maestro Choi has studied privately with Maestro Kirk Trevor since 1993. Their long-standing artistic relationship has included participation in international conducting workshops in the United States and Europe, with Maestro Trevor continuing to serve as an important mentor throughout his professional career.

Maestro Choi resides in Centralia, Missouri, with his wife, Angela, and their son, Nathaniel.