Jasmine Choi: K-Classical

South Korea is blessed with a particularly rich classical music scene. One of its brightest stars, the flautist Jasmine Choi, guides us through the musicians and composers that have put her homeland on the classical map. “As a touring classical musician from Korea who trained in the US and is now based in Europe, over the years I have come to appreciate more of where I am from, and of the performers and composers from Korea who are making positive waves,” she tells Apple Music Classical. Choi begins her playlist with one of Korea’s most celebrated artists, the soprano Sumi Jo whose career has taken her to the greatest opera houses across the world. You’ll hear incredible performances, too, by today’s star pianists such as Seong-Jin Cho, Yunchan Lim, Yekwon Sunwoo and Dong Hyek Lim, plus a track from the earliest recording by the great American Korean violinist Sarah Chang. Many of the musicians featured here, says Choi, are “monumental Korean virtuosos of all time who shook the world upside down and have greatly inspired the next generations of classical musicians around the globe.” Naturally, we also get to hear Choi herself, in beautiful performances of Reinecke and Mozart. In K-Classical, Choi also introduces us to music by celebrated Korean composers, such as the hypnotic organ work Pahdo by Texu Kim, Isang Yun’s haunting Nore for cello and piano, and Solbong Kim’s beautiful Postcard, performed here by MIK Ensemble. These are pieces that, says Choi, are “beautifully infused with Korean traditions.”