Assistant Principal Dizi of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Choo joined the HKCO in 1979 and has served as current position since 1990. He is also currently Chairman of the Hong Kong Bamboo Flute Society, honorary member of the Committee of Zhudi Professionals of the China Nationalities Orchestra Society, and member of the China Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles. Choo is on the faculty of the Music Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and has been a seasoned adjudicator in the annual Hong Kong Schools Music Festival.
Born in Singapore, Choo began studying music in 1968. He joined the Singapore Youth Chinese Orchestra in 1969, Singapore Peoples’ Association’s Chinese Orchestra in 1976 and performed with the Orchestra in the First Festival of Asian Arts in Hong Kong. Since joining the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra in 1979, Choo has performed extensively with the Orchestra in the United States, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, the Mainland China, Macau and Taiwan. Furthermore, he is often invited to perform with other orchestras as guest soloist, including the Taipei Chinese Orchestra, the Wang Kwong Chinese Orchestra, the Singapore NTUC Chinese Orchestra, the Singapore Youth Chinese Orchestra, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and the Singapore Chinese Orchestra.
Choo’s forte is in the bangdi, where he demonstrates ease in the upper register, excellent fingering, staccato and breathing techniques. He has recorded for many television, advertisement, films and record companies. In 1995, Choo recorded the dizi album entitled Tea Picking in Spring Mountain for Hugo Productions. In 1997, he collaborated with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta in the recording of the symphonic poem The Legend of a Yellow Crane, then again in the adaption of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons for Chinese instruments. In 2003, on behalf of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, he was invited by Columbia Pictures to India to participate in the soundtrack recording for the film Warriors of Heaven and Earth.
