ALUMNI: Eunghee Cho

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Cho began cello when he was eight years old and is currently studying music at the New England Conservatory in Boston. (Courtesy: E. Cho)

By Tess McIntyre,
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

Eunghee Cho has been playing cello since he was eight years old. Last summer, Cho, now in his early 20s, won a second place prize in an international strings competition that took place in China this summer.

“I’ve done competitions before, but never on that scale,” said Cho, a 2012 Davis High graduate.

Many applicants from various countries across the world competed in the Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition, and Cho was the only U.S. finalist in the cello division.

Cho enjoyed meeting people from other countries. He believes that in Davis people are “pretty sheltered from other cultures” and that the competition was a good experience.

Cho decided that he wanted to play cello because his mother had one in the house, and he wasn’t a fan of the sound of his sister’s violin.

Though he started playing early on, it was only later in life that he got serious about playing the instrument.

“I know I love the instrument,” Cho said. Despite this, he did not fully commit to it at first, and almost studied microbiology in college.

Cho is now studying music at the New England Conservatory in Boston and has an undergraduate degree from the Thornton School of Music in Southern California. He is glad that he gets to “pursue music at a high level.”

His friends kept him “motivated and inspired” throughout his years as a student at DHS.

“I feel very lucky that I had talented peers growing up[…]I feel like DHS attracts that kind of people,” Cho said.

He also said orchestra conductor Angelo Moreno was very supportive and gave him many opportunities, such as solos and playing in the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra.

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