Choo Hoey

Choo Hoey is a Singaporean conductor. He was attracted to music as a child and started lessons on the violin with his father's help. After completing elementary school in 1945, he continued his education at the Chinese High School in Singapore. He began studying violin with Goh Soon Tioe in 1947 and completed high school in 1951. He went to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music, and studied violin with David Martin and André Gertler, horn with Aubrey Brain, and conducting with Maurice Miles and Igor Markevitch. Since his public debut in 1958, Choo began conducting major orchestras in Europe, and from 1968 to 1977, he was the principal conductor of the Greek National Opera. In 1978, he was asked by the government of Singapore to form the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, of which he served as resident conductor and music director until 1996, when he was named conductor emeritus. ~ Blair Sanderson