WORLDS
THE WORLD OF JAZZ
Maureen Choi Quartet
The Fiery Passion of Mediterranean Jazz Written by Teresa Clair
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pain is a country of passion and fantasy. Located at the entrance of the Mediterranean, Spain is full of creative architecture, energetic flamenco, and people with prolific hearts. Spanish jazz music resounds through the streets of Madrid, Barcelona, Santiago and anywhere you go, adding vibrancy to the people, the culture, to the very air. At the core of this celebration of jazz and its exuberance is a prominent band led by a soaring star in this exciting genre of music. Maureen Choi Quartet, the 1st place winner of the International Jazz Competition of Talavera, is emerging brilliantly from the streets of Madrid and is jazzing up the whole Mediterranean coast. Maureen Choi is a Korean-American violinist from Ann Arbor, Michigan. She is one of the most innovative violinists of her generation and her music is distinguishable by its fiery passion. With her strong background and foundation in classical music, Maureen has taken a different path to jazz, making her sound unique and 102 www.vowpeople.com
incomparable. After graduating from Michigan State University in Classical Violin Performance, Maureen was accepted into the prestigious Berklee College of Music where she started playing jazz and Latin music. Her interest in improvisation, composition and Spanish music brought her to Madrid, Spain, where she is now exploring Spanish folklore and Cuban music. In pursuit of her vision of playing jazz within the intimacy of chamber music, she founded her band, Maureen Choi Quartet in 2013. While actively performing at all the major jazz clubs of Madrid, the Maureen Choi Quartet won 1st place in the International Jazz Competition of Talavera, and participated in numerous other festivals, including the Madrid Jazz Festival and Ellas Crean. This year, the quartet will also be participating in Jazz E単e, a jazz festival that showcases the best of Spain to other countries in Europe. Recently, Maureen Choi Quartet collaborated with members of the National Ballet