Cellist Charles Seo was appointed cellist of the Houston Symphony in the summer of 2018 at the age of 22. He previously served as principal cellist in the Colburn Orchestra. Charles made his solo orchestral debut at the age of 10 and is the recipient of numerous awards on both the national and international levels. He has performed as guest soloist with the Houston Symphony, Dallas Symphony, and the San Jose Chamber Orchestra.
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Charles is the silver medalist of the 2014 Irving M. Klein International String Competition and a bronze medalist of the 2014 Stulberg International String Competition. He is the gold medalist of the 2013 Lynn Harrell Concerto Competition, 2013 Houston Symphony Competition, 2013 Schmidbauer International Competition, 30th Pasadena Showcase Instrumental Competition. Charles performed Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen with Christopher O’Riley on NPR’s From the Top.  In 2014, he was selected as a YoungArts finalist and a semifinalist for the Presidential Scholars for the Arts. In 2015, he was invited to compete in Moscow at the XV Tchaikovsky International Competition.​
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Charles holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Colburn School, where he studied with Ronald Leonard and Clive Greensmith. ​

Charles’ Korean name is Chan Young, which means to “praise and glorify the Lord with music.” Using his God-given musical talents to bring glory gives joy to Seo and encourages him to excel.  


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