AIS Yohan Choi Triumphs on Trumpet

Maggie Frail, Staff Writer

By Maggie Frail

Reynolds is full of students who take advantage of the arts classes the school provides. Senior Yohan Choi is one of those students. Choi plays the trumpet in the most advanced class of concert band.

   “Yohan is an amazing trumpet player and is very disciplined and motivated,” band teacher Johnathan Hamiel said. “He reads music very well and has a very unique and clear tone as a trumpet student player.”

   Choi has been playing the trumpet since he was in sixth grade at South East Middle School, and he has made all state twice in a row, fifth chair.

    Although Choi did not start trumpet until 6th grade, his parents got him into other types of music before that.

   “I first started doing music when my parents brought me to this program by the Salvation Army, a music conservatory where they would teach you how to play the brass instruments, chorus, string instruments, and drum line,” Choi said. “I did not enjoy the first bit of it but as I got better we got to do much more fun things like traveling around and playing in front of a huge crowd where Chris Paul was also present.”

   While Choi may be known at Reynolds for his skills on the trumpet, he learned to play a little bit of the guitar when he was younger.

   “During my time at the music conservatory I learned a little bit of guitar,” Choi said.

   Choi has not decided if he wants to play in college or if he wants a career in music.

   “Appalachian State seems like a good college for achieving a music career but I’m not entirely sure if I want to pursue that career,” Choi said. “Plus Evan Patti told me that I’m too good for that school.”

    Hamiel describes Choi as a very disciplined and motivated player.

   “He reads music very well and has a very unique and clear tone as a trumpet student player,” Hamiel said. “He has unlimited range and can play and perform any style of music fluently.”

   Choi has made All-County, All-District, and All-State band while at Reynolds.

   All-County band is where a student has to perform a prepared musical piece, play scales and sight-read in front of a blind judge and to be evaluated. The students that make All-County are among the top band students in the area.

    Since he made All-State, he is considered one of the top high school trumpet players in North Carolina.

    While the judges might think Choi is one of the best in the state, he knows someone else who can always outplay him.

    “Issac Cooper, Master of the Trumpets, is the rawest there is,” Choi said about his fellow trumpet player. “For a visual image, he is so raw that he is rawer than an unborn fish whose mother is still in their fish teen years raw.”