Ryan Choi (born December 2, 1984, in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Hawai'i Hawaii ( ; ) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, th ...

) is a composer and multi-instrumentalist.

Biography

Choi was classically trained on the double bass from an early age and took up the

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

in high school. Self-taught as a composer, he first came to international recognition for a series of releases for the

baritone ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portugal, Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The Tone (musical instrument), tone and volume of th ...

that were among the first to showcase the instrument's

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

potential. His debut album, Three Dancers, created after a years-long absence from music, won the 2016 Independent Music Award for Best Instrumental EP and featured the composer on prepared baritone ukulele, percussion and electronics. His work, favoring improvisation and experimentation, is often dense, intricate, and mathematically complex, utilizing advanced harmony and drawing on a range of visual, literary, and musical sources. He also makes extensive use of preparations and alternative tunings. He has collaborated with

Kommissar Hjuler Kommissar Hjuler (born Detlev Hjuler; 1967) works as a sound recordist in the field of Noise (music), Noise and Post-industrial music, visual artist, film maker and police officer at Flensburg, a town on the German border with Denmark. He often work ...

and

Mama Baer Mama Baer (born Andrea Katharina Ingeborg Göthling; 29 October 1981) is a German sound recordist of noise music and post-industrial music. She is a filmmaker and visual artist in Flensburg. She has had solo and group art exhibitions around the wor ...

. He lives and works in Honolulu, Hawai'i.

Discography

Solo

* "Three Dancers" (2016) * "Whenmill" (2016)

Collaborations

* "Company / Arbors" (2016) with

and

* "IT-FIGURES" (2017) with

and

Compilations

* "30" (2015) * "I Never Meta Guitar Four" (2017), compiled by

Elliott Sharp Elliott Sharp (born March 1, 1951) is an American contemporary classical music, contemporary classical composer, multi-instrumentalist, performer, author, and visual artist. A central figure in the Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimenta ...

, on

Clean Feed Records Clean Feed Records is a jazz record label founded in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2001. The label's roster includes Ray Anderson, Tim Berne, Carlos Bica, Anthony Braxton, Mark Dresser, Ellery Eskelin, Peter Evans, Scott Fields, Fight the Big Bull, C ...

* "Various - FLUXUS" (2017), Psych.KG

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Ryan American jazz musicians Ukulele players from Hawaii 21st-century American composers Living people 1984 births American classical composers