Choo Hoey (朱晖, born 20 October 1934, Palembang, Sumatra) is a Singaporean musician and conductor. His father, Choo Seng, was an immigrant from Chaozhou and his mother from Nanjing. He founded the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and was also its first resident conductor and music director.[1]
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Choo Hoey's encounter with classical music started from listening to his father's collection of records and was drawn to the violin. His father noticed his attraction and started his lessons in violin with a Teach Yourself book. After Choo Hoey's primary education in 1945, his family migrated to Singapore and he continued his secondary education at The Chinese High School.
In 1947, Choo Hoey started his violin training under Goh Soon Tioe. Using only two years of study in Singapore, he obtained his Grade 8 with distinction from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in London, England. Upon completing his secondary education in 1951, Choo Hoey went to the Royal Academy of Music in London to study the violin under David Martin, the French horn under Aubrey Brain, and conducting under Maurice Miles. Igor Markevitch In 1954, Choo Hoey studied conducting under Igor Markevitch and the violin under André Gertler. In 1955, He graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, awarded with the Mann's Memorial Prize and the Earnest Read Prize. In 1957, he continued his violin training at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in Belgium.
In 1958, Choo Hoey debuted his career with the Belgian National Orchestra. He has performed with many famous European orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Oslo Philharmonic and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. From 1968 till 1977, he was the principal conductor of the Greek National Opera and guest-conducted with other symphony orchestras.
Choo Hoey was invited by the Singapore government in 1978 to set up the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and become the Music Director in 1979.[2] He was one of the recipients of the inaugural Cultural Medallion in 1979. He also proposed the creation of the Singapore Symphony Chorus in 1980. With the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, he led them to their international debut in Scandinavia. In 1996, Choo Hoey stepped down as music director of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and was appointed as Conductor Emeritus, in recognition of his contribution.
Choo Hoey is married to Alexandra, a Greek archaeologist, and had two sons. He resides in Athens and London, where his sons live.