Stella Cho

Originally from South Korea and raised in the United Kingdom, Stella made her London solo debut at the Royal Albert Hall, London at the age of fifteen. Since then, she has given recital programs in South Korea, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Croatia, the U.S.A., and played on numerous occasions on national television and radio. Stella was selected as one of the Holland Music Sessions’ “New Masters on Tour” and gave solo recitals across Europe, including the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Slovak Philharmonic Hall in Bratislava.

Stella has participated in master classes with numerous distinguished artists including Frans Helmerson, Joel Krosnick, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Gary Hoffman and Timothy Eddy. Her major awards and achievements include winning Texaco Young Musician of Wales, USC Solo Bach and Concerto Competitions, Pasadena Fine Arts Club Award and the Hattori Award.

As a passionate chamber musician, Stella has been part of several chamber ensembles; as part of the Accord Quintet, Stella was awarded the Honorable Mention Prize in the finals of the 2012 Coleman National Chamber Music Competition. As a founding member of the Huntington Quartet, she won the 2014 NEC Honors Ensemble Competition and has performed extensively in the New England area, including a successful debut at Jordan Hall, Boston. As a member of Pacific Quartet, she won the inaugural Christine Marie Ofiesh Honors Ensemble Competition at USC in 2019, which led to performances at Sundays Live at LACMA and guest artist at Rncontres Franco-Américaines de Musique de Chambre in France.

Stella has been invited to perform in numerous renowned music festivals around the world including, Yellow Barn, Ravinia, Aspen, Casals, La Jolla SummerFest, Banff Chamber Music Festival, the Perlman Music Program and IMS Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music. She has also collaborated with eminent musicians such as Ralph Kirshbaum, Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Joseph Kalichstein, Joseph Silverstein and Borromeo Quartet.

Stella earned Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees with honors at the prestigious Gregor Piatigorsky Studio, USC Thornton School of Music with Ralph Kirshbaum and continued further graduate studies at the New England Conservatory with Laurence Lesser. She recently completed her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at USC and was honored as the 2021 Outstanding DMA Graduate, as well as being inducted into the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honors Society.

She is currently teaching and performing in the Los Angeles area, as cello faculty at Loyola Marymount University, and as a cellist of the SAKURA Cello Quintet and Delirium Musicum Chamber Ensemble.