Born in South Korea, composer and ondist Imsu Choi studied at Ewha University (Seoul) where she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in composition. She continued her studies in France and entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris(CNSMDP) in composition, écriture and ondes Martenot. For 2023-2024, she participated in the IRCAM Cursus program.
She has been the recipient of prizes from the Fondation de France (Prix Monique Gabus, Prix Marthe Depelsenaire), the Legs Edmond Jabès, the Mécénat Musical Société Générale, Prix de composition de l’Académie Ravel, 3rd Ise-Shima International Composition Competition and the Nadia and Lili Boulanger International Center. Imsu Choi teaches electronic piano and ondes Martenot at the Conservatoire Iannis Xenakis.
Her music has been commissioned and created by several ensembles and orchestras, including the Ensemble Intercontemporain (dir. Léo Margue, Simon Proust), Orchestre de Picardie (dir. Arie van Beek), Divertimento Ensemble (dir. Sandro Gorli, dir. Viktoriia Vitrenko), International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Trio Catch, Trio Abstrakt, Ensemble Court-Circuit, Klangforum Wien, Quartetto Maurice, Ensemble Next, Ensemble Ecoute, Ensemble TM+ (Dir. Laurent Cuniot).
Her works have been performed at festivals such as Festival Présence (France), Festival Archipel (Switzerland), Tongyeong International Music Festival (South Korea), Festival Sonomundo (France), Festival Ensemble/s/ (France), Festival Ravel (France), Festival Singer-Polignac (France) and Bludenzer tage zeitgemäßer musik (Austria).
Also active as a ondes Martenot player, she presented ondes Martenot at the Musée de la musique de Paris of Philharmonie de Paris during the European Night of Museums 2022. She also played at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris; at the Théâtre de Chaillot and Cathedral in Bern. She also played Trois petites Liturgies de la Présence Divine by Olivier Messiaen as a solo ondist with the CNSMDP Orchestra at Saint-Eustache Church in Paris, conducted by Léo Warynski. In 2024, she had her debut of Turangalila Symphonie d’Olivier Messiaen at Royal Festival Hall in London with pianist Thomas Kelly and Royal College of Music Orchestra under maestro Jac van Steen.
In 2025, her new scores were premiered notably at the Festival Présence at the Maison de la Radio during the opening concert by Ensemble NEXT. She participated in the composition residency of the Académie du Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. At the Ravel Festival, Reflets for viola and cello was created and it will also be published by Éditions Durand-Salabert-Eschig. Trio Abstrakt performed Chroma in Köln, Wiesbaden and Paris. SWR Symphonieorchester premiered her new orchestral piece Miro at the Donaueschinger Musiktage 2025 during the opening concert under the direction of François-Xavier Roth.
Imsu Choi is an artist-in-residence at the Fondation Singer-Polignac since 2024.