Cello There!

As a cellist, Mi Ran is strongly drawn to new music and finding opportunities to collaborate in chamber music. These penchants emerged early in their undergraduate study at Los Angeles City College, where they completed their Associate of Arts for Transfer in Music and was a recipient of the David A. Alpert Scholarship Award.
Their engagement with chamber music continued through their transfer to North Park University, where their ensemble Les Dames des Cordes was recognized with First Place in the university’s chamber music competition in 2019 for their performance of João Isaac Marques’ Se Eu Me Esquecer De Ti, Jerusalém.

Choi later pursued graduate studies at Northeastern Illinois University, where they received their Master of Arts in Applied String Pedagogy with the aid of the Nada Spasojevich Endowment Award. Their work culminated in a lecture recital and a published master’s thesis on the educational significance of Isang Yun’s Sieben Etüden für Violoncello Solo.

Choi currently serves the Garfield Park and North Park neighborhoods of Chicago as a cello instructor, teaching with the Chicago West Community Music Center and Northeastern Illinois University’s Community Music Program respectively.
They also collaborate regularly with Wander Ensemble (formed in 2024) and their husband, organist-pianist Nguyên Trần Xuân “Bobby” Nguyễn.

Outside of work with their cello, they currently serve as a board member of Crossing Borders Music and as the IT and Programs Director of the Human Values Collective.

In their spare time, they enjoy reading, sketching for compositions and drawings, trying new coffee blends, and biking through the city (sometimes with their cello!).