Great Neck’s Hugh Choi, 17, is a gifted musician whose flute performances are inspired by the connective feeling it generates. This talent and passion has not gone unnoticed and was recently honored as a first-place winner in the Philadelphia International Music Festival.
Choi has played the flute since he was eight years old, performing for a variety of audiences from solo recitals to his mother’s church choir and his father’s rock band. He also plays in Juilliard’s Pre-College Orchestra.
His love for music was fostered by his parents, who exposed him to a diverse conglomeration of music genres they would perform for their son.
“I grew up in a household of music,” Choi said. “Fondly, I remember my mother and father as they sang in harmony with each other—Korean folk songs, American country or rock, with my father strumming chords on his guitar, or joining with his harmonica. But neither were classically trained musicians—until very recently, neither of my parents could read music on a staff! But that didn’t stop them from doing what they loved.”
The ability of his parents’ music to bring his family together is something Choi said inspired him and serves as a driving force for why he plays music to this day.
“Since starting to play the flute at age eight, I would say that I have adopted a similar mindset,” Choi said. “Music has such a powerful connective and regenerative force, both for the performers and audience members. Playing both in solo recitals and with my parents, alongside my mother’s church choir or with my father’s rock band, has illustrated these qualities of music to me. There is so much joy to be found in music.”
Choi won first place in the 16-19 division of the festival. This award was accompanied with a $750 scholarship to attend the Philadelphia International Music Festivals’s classical music training program.
The Philadelphia International Music Festival is a global summer music program that offers four weeks of immersive music education and performance training with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Choi is invited to attend this as well as the Winners Circle concert hosted next summer.
Choi wowed the judges with his performance of “Carmen Fantaisie” by François Borne. He described this piece as one with drama and emotion that embodies his flute-playing style.
“The Carmen Fantasy is one of the staple showpieces of the flute repertoire,” Hugh explained. “I love how the piece captures the dramatic, operatic essence of the original work, truly allowing the performer to be free as their own soloist. I hope that listeners are able to feel these dramatic emotions on top of the themes from the opera in the piece, even through the layers of variation Borne adds to them. I chose this piece because it fits my playing style and characteristics I enjoy.”
