Nikki Chooi
Canadian violinist Nikki Chooi, praised for his passionate and poetic performances, has established himself as an artist of rare versatility. Described as “vigorous, colorful” by the New York Times, he has received critical acclaim in engagements at Harris Theatre, Kimmel Center, Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall, Vancouver’s Recital Series, as well as appearing as soloist with the Montréal Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Edmonton Symphony, St. Petersburg State Orchestra, National Orchestra of Belgium, Auckland Philharmonia, Malaysian Philharmonic, and Hong Kong Philharmonic.
In the 2018-2019 season, Nikki made his solo debut with the Louisiana Philharmonic, West Virginia Symphony, New York Classical Players, Seongnam Philharmonic, and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. He will also perform at the Cecilia Concert Series in Nova Scotia, Astral Center City Series in Philadelphia, and a return to New Zealand to perform at the Adam Chamber Music Festival
He has been featured at many international festivals with performances at the Marlboro Festival, Ravinia Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, Toronto Summer Music, Kammermusik Utrecht, Dresden Music Festival, Olympus Festival in Russia, and Fundación Beethoven in Chile. His many collaborators have included Jan Vogler, Kim Kashkashian, David Shifrin, Anthony Marwood, and members of the Guarneri and Juilliard String Quartets. Nikki has embarked on nation-wide performance tours with Musicians from Marlboro, as soloist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Canada, Chamber Music New Zealand, and Selby and Friends in Australia.
Nikki has also delved into the orchestral repertoire, having served as Concertmaster of New York's MET Orchestra in 2016/2017 while working closely with singers and conductors including Renee Fleming, Fabio Luisi, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. His solos can be heard through the Grammy-nominated recording of Strauss’ Rosenkavalier released on the Decca Label. He has also appeared as Guest Concertmaster with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Houston Symphony, and Sydney Symphony.
Nikki began his studies at the Victoria Conservatory, Mount Royal Conservatory, and at the National Arts Centre Young Artist Programme with Pinchas Zukerman. He completed his formal studies at the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School under the mentorship of Joseph Silverstein, Ida Kavafian, and Donald Weilerstein. A recipient of prizes at the Queen Elizabeth and Tchaikovsky Competitions, Nikki was the 1st Prize Winner of the Montreal Symphony's Standard Life Competition, the Klein International Strings Competition, and the Michael Hill International Violin Competition. He released his debut album of works by Prokofiev, Ravel, and Gershwin on the Atoll Label.
SIWOO KIM
Siwoo Kim is an “incisive” and “compelling” (The New York Times) violinist who plays with “stylistic sensitivity and generous tonal nuance” (Chicago Tribune). Siwoo performs as soloist and chamber musician, and he is the founding co-artistic director of VIVO Music Festival in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
Siwoo gave the world premiere of Samuel Adler’s violin concerto which was written for him. He recorded the work on Linn Records to commemorate the composer’s 90th anniversary, and the BBC Music Magazine raved his “impassioned playing.” Siwoo made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in Stern Auditorium with the Juilliard Orchestra. He has since performed with the likes of the Houston Symphony, the Staatsorchester Brandenburgisches Frankfurt, the Johannesburg Philharmonic, the Seongnam Philharmonic, and Orchestre Royal de Chambre in venues across the world such as Walt Disney Concert Hall and Lotte Concert Hall.
As a chamber musician, Siwoo formed the “whip-smart” (Alex Ross, The New Yorker) Quartet Senza Misura and spends his summers at the Marlboro Music Festival. He has collaborated with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Joyce DiDonato, Jeremy Denk, Mitsuko Uchida and Denes Varjon. Siwoo has been featured internationally at the Stellenbosch Festival in South Africa, Bergen Festival in Norway, Tivoli Festival in Denmark, Ensemble DITTO in South Korea, and Port de Soller Festival in Spain.
Siwoo graduated from The Juilliard School where he studied under Robert Mann and Donald Weilerstein with full scholarship. He went on to complete a two-year fellowship with Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect. Prior to college, Siwoo studied under Roland and Almita Vamos at the Music Institute of Chicago.