Eunghee Cho
Professor of Practice, Cello
Born in Davis, California, Korean-American cellist Eunghee Cho was awarded Second Prize and
the special award for Outstanding Chinese New Piece Performance at the Alice & Eleonore
Schoenfeld International String Competition (China). He has also earned top prizes in the
Gustav Mahler Prize Cello Competition (Czech Republic), AEMC International Chamber Music
Competition (Italy), Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition (USA), among other
competitions and has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras around the country
including the Sacramento Philharmonic, Fox Valley Symphony, Cape Symphony, Atlantic
Symphony, Symphony by the Sea, UC Davis Symphony, and Sacramento State Symphony
Orchestras. He has held the Joyce & Donald Steele Chair as Principal Cello of the Atlantic
Symphony Orchestra and has performed as Guest Principal Cello with orchestras around the
country including Mercury Chamber Orchestra, Boston Festival Orchestra, Dallas Chamber
Symphony, and Cape Symphony.
the special award for Outstanding Chinese New Piece Performance at the Alice & Eleonore
Schoenfeld International String Competition (China). He has also earned top prizes in the
Gustav Mahler Prize Cello Competition (Czech Republic), AEMC International Chamber Music
Competition (Italy), Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition (USA), among other
competitions and has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras around the country
including the Sacramento Philharmonic, Fox Valley Symphony, Cape Symphony, Atlantic
Symphony, Symphony by the Sea, UC Davis Symphony, and Sacramento State Symphony
Orchestras. He has held the Joyce & Donald Steele Chair as Principal Cello of the Atlantic
Symphony Orchestra and has performed as Guest Principal Cello with orchestras around the
country including Mercury Chamber Orchestra, Boston Festival Orchestra, Dallas Chamber
Symphony, and Cape Symphony.
Eunghee currently serves on the cello and chamber music faculty of University of Houston’s
Moores School of Music, where he also directs the Moores Cello Ensemble, CelloFest Houston,
and Texas Music Festival’s Chamber Music Program. He has been invited to present
masterclasses for Boston Conservatory, Towson University, La Jolla Music Society, Walnut Hill
School for the Arts, University of Southern Mississippi, Artis Naples, Royal Conservatory of
Music, and Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society, and he is the Artistic Director of Mellon
Music Festival in Davis, CA. Eunghee has also served on the summer teaching faculties of Texas
Music Festival, International Cello Institute, Montecito International Music Festival, Heifetz
International Music Institute, Texas Strings Festival, and Festival Internacional de Música
Naolinco.
His chamber music collaborations include performances with artists such as Midori Goto, Inon
Barnatan, David Shifrin, Paul Neubauer, Maeve Gilchrist, Elton John, Keith Murphy, Alec
Benjamin, François Salque, and with members of the Cleveland Quartet, Borromeo String
Quartet, St. Lawrence String Quartet, Calder String Quartet, Silk Road Ensemble, A Far Cry, Da
Camera Society, and Aaron Diehl Trio. He was the founding cellist of Rasa String Quartet and
has collaborated directly with composers in world and national premieres of their works
including with José Elizondo, Andrew Norman, Michael Gandolfi, Jeremy Crosmer, and Julia
Adolphe. Previous festival engagements include La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, Norfolk
Chamber Music Festival, Taos School of Music, Keuka Lake Music Festival, Highlands Cashiers
Chamber Music Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Festival International d’Echternach, and
Rencontres Franco Américaines de Musique Chambre in Missillac, France.
Eunghee graduated as a Steven & Kathryn Sample Renaissance Scholar from the Thornton
School of Music at the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Music in Cello
Performance and a Minor in Biology as a student of Andrew Shulman. He completed both
Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at New England Conservatory under the
tutelage of distinguished pedagogues Laurence Lesser and Paul Katz. Eunghee has actively
participated in classes at the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival and Académie Musicale de
Villecroze in France and has worked closely with Ralph Kirshbaum, Kim Kashkashian, and Midori
Goto. His cello instruction began with Julie Hochman, Richard Andaya, and Andrew Luchansky.
Goto. His cello instruction began with Julie Hochman, Richard Andaya, and Andrew Luchansky.
Other Achievements at University of Houston:
- Moores Cello Ensemble, director
- CelloFest Houston, artistic director
- Texas Music Festival, director of chamber music
Amy Beach: Romance (transcribed for cello and piano)
Franck: Piano Quintet in F minor
Strauss: Don Quixote