The Minnesota Orchestra announced today that it will add three new musicians to its roster at the start of the 2018-19 season, following auditions that were held during the 2017-18 season. Violist Jenni Seo has been appointed Assistant Principal Viola, a position held since 2010 by recently-appointed Principal Viola Rebecca Albers; cellists Minji Choi and Erik Wheeler have been appointed to section positions. Seo comes to Minnesota after a one-year position with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Choi currently plays with the Santa Barbara and Eugene Symphonies. Both will join the Orchestra later this month in the Season Opening concerts on September 21 and 22. Wheeler, a graduate of Rice University, will begin his new role with the Orchestra in January 2019.

Jenni Seo, viola

Korean violist Jenni Seo (pronounced SUH) comes to Minnesota after performing in the viola section of the Baltimore Symphony during its 2017-18 season. She is a frequent substitute with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic and New York City Ballet orchestras, and makes reoccurring appearances at the Music at Menlo, Montecito, Bad Leonfelden, Keuka Lake and Perlman Music Program festivals. She has appeared on stage alongside Itzhak Perlman, Lynn Harrell, Donald Weilerstein and David Finckel, as well as members of the Cleveland, Takacs and Juilliard String Quartets. She has been presented by the WQXR Midday Masterpieces series, the Harvard Club of New York and at the Neue Gallery. The winner of the 2011 ASTA National Solo Competition, Seo received undergraduate and graduate degrees from The Juilliard School, where she was a student of Cynthia Phelps, Heidi Castleman and Steven Tenenbom, and served as principal viola of the Juilliard Orchestra.

Minji Choi, cello

Korean cellist Minji Choi (pronounced MIN-jee CHOY) began studying cello at age six and gave her first solo performance at the age of twelve in Kumho Art Hall. She studied at the Korean National University of Arts under the tutelage of Myung-Wha Chung and Kangho Lee. She has also studied with Philippe Muller at the Paris Conservatory, where she received her master’s degree, and she recently earned an artist’s diploma from the Colburn Conservatory of Music, studying with Clive Greensmith. She has won numerous competitions including the Ehwa- Kyunghyang Competition, Ye-Jin Competition, Nan-Pa Competition, Eum-Yoen Competition and the Tea-Gu Broadcasting Competition, among many others. As a soloist, she has been featured with the Teagu Philharmonic Orchestra, Guri City Orchestra, Gunpo Prime Philharmonic Orchestra and Karol Szymanovski Philharmonic Orchestra. She has played as a substitute musician with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the New York
Philharmonic under the baton of Alan Gilbert. She has also served as principal
cello of the Paris Conservatory Orchestra, Pacific Music Festival Orchestra and
Verbier Festival Orchestra.

Erik Wheeler, cello

Houston-born cellist Erik Wheeler began his musical studies with Diane Bonds at the age of five. He has also studied with Steve Laven, Lynn Harrell and Brinton Smith, and with Desmond Hoebig at Rice University, where he earned his undergraduate degree, and at The Juilliard School with cellist Richard Aaron. While at Rice, he performed Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with the Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra as the winner of the school’s concerto competition, and served as principal cellist for the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra. He has performed chamber music alongside world-renowned artists including Jon Kimura Parker, Philip Setzer, Lawrence Dutton, Timothy Eddy, Kim Kashkashian, Susan Starr and Charles Wetherbee, and has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras including the Houston Symphony. Wheeler’s parents are both musicians, and his father Lawrence was Co-Principal Violist of the Minnesota Orchestra in the 1970s.