About

Pianist Choo Choo Hu has been recognized as a musician of inordinate versatility. Praised by The Bethlehem Morning Call as “one of the finest musicians I’ve ever heard...her technique was as solid and smooth as could be wished...in addition, she managed to bring out the richness of Schubert’s music with impeccable phrasing and tempi.”

Choo Choo has performed across the United States, Europe, and Asia as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative pianist. Recent performances include collaborations with the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Prince George’s Philharmonic, York Symphony, the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, the JHU Choral Society, and appearances at the Strathmore Mansion and the Kennedy Center. An avid proponent of contemporary music, Choo Choo has amassed an extensive repertoire of new music during her time as a member of the SONAR New Music Ensemble. As a chamber musician, she has performed frequently with faculty of the Peabody Conservatory and musicians of the Baltimore Symphony and the Poulenc Trio. She spent the previous summer as an opera coach in Prague and Salzburg for the Prague Summer Nights Festival. In addition, she has been a guest artist at the Bethlehem Music Festival, the Heifetz International Music Institute, and the Wintergreen Performing Arts Festival.

Born in China and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Choo Choo began taking lessons at the age of five with pianist John Sun. She made her concerto debut at age twelve with the Washington University Symphony Orchestra. By the time she was sixteen she had already accumulated top prizes at competitions throughout the United States such as the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition, the Biennial Lee Competition, the Washington University Young Artists Concerto Competition, and the St. Louis Symphony Youth Concerto Competition. At age seventeen she enrolled at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, studying with renowned musicians Leon Fleisher and Brian Ganz. While at Peabody, Choo Choo was the recipient of the Albert and Rosa Silverman Memorial Scholarship, the Yale Gordon Chamber Music Fellowship, and the Grace Clagett Ranney Prize in Chamber Music. She currently resides in Atlanta, and has never been known to choose a side salad instead of fries.

Music

Schubert B-flat Sonata, D. 960
Liszt B minor Sonata
Mozart K. 311
Beethoven Op. 10, No. 1, 2, 3; Op. 31, No. 3; Op. 78, Op. 90, Op. 110
Bartok "Out of Doors"
Chopin Impromptus, Ballades, Scherzi, Barcarolle
Ligeti "Arc-en-ciel"
Poulenc "Nocturnes"
Gershwin "Rhapsody in Blue"
Crumb "Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik"

Videos