Praised for his powerful and poetic performances, internationally-acclaimed violinist Nikki Chooi has established himself as an artist of rare versatility. Described as “expressive, enchanting, and transcendent,” Nikki is a Laureate of the Queen Elizabeth and Tchaikovsky Competitions, and was awarded 1st Prize Winner at the Montreal Symphony’s ManuLife Competition, the Klein International Strings Competition, and the Michael Hill International Violin Competition.

In 2022-2023, Nikki made critically-acclaimed debuts at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium as soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic and at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall with Orchestra NOW. He was also featured soloist with the Vancouver Symphony, Puerto Rico Symphony, National Taiwan Symphony Festival Orchestra, Santa Fe Symphony, and Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. In past seasons, he has appeared as soloist with orchestras across Canada and internationally including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Victoria Symphony Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Wallonie, National Orchestra of Belgium, Auckland Philharmonia, Malaysian Philharmonic, and Hong Kong Philharmonic.

Nikki has been featured at many international festivals with performances at the Marlboro Festival, Ravinia Festival, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, Brevard Music Center, Vancouver Recital Series, Moritzburg Festival, Kammermusik Utrecht, Dresden Music Festival, Chamber Music New Zealand, and Fundación Beethoven in Chile.

Nikki is currently Concertmaster of the Grammy-award winning Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under Music Director JoAnn Falletta. He has appeared as guest concertmaster with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Houston Symphony, Sydney Symphony. Previously Concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Nikki worked closely with singers and conductors including Renee Fleming, Susanna Phillips, Elīna Garanča, Eric Owens, Fabio Luisi, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. His solos can be heard through The Met: Live in HD broadcasts in productions of Verdi’s La Traviata, Janacek’s Jenufa, and the Grammy-nominated recording of Strauss’ Rosenkavalier released on the Decca Label. 

A passionate educator, Nikki is currently on the violin faculty at University of Buffalo and University of Ottawa. He has presented masterclasses at the San Francisco Conservatory, Morningside Music Program at the New England Conservatory, Orchestra of the Americas Academy, Sphinx Academy at the Curtis Institute of Music, and the University of Auckland.

Nikki began his studies at the Victoria Conservatory, Mount Royal Conservatory, Morningside Music Bridge, and at the National Arts Centre Young Artist Programme. He completed his formal studies at the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School under the mentorship of Joseph Silverstein, Ida Kavafian, and Donald Weilerstein

He has recorded for Naxos, Beau Fleuve, Atoll, and Decca labels. Nikki performs on a 1713 Stradivarius courtesy of CANIMEX INC. from Drummondville, Quebec, Canada and a 1749 G.B Guadagnini on extended loan through the Stradivari Society of Chicago. Nikki proudly endorses Thomastik-Infeld strings.

Hong Kong-born pianist Anson Wong graduated from the Diocesan Boys’ School and had been a student at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) since nine, majoring in piano, bassoon and composition. He is now pursuing a bachelor’s degree in piano at the HKAPA with Prof. Gabriel Kwok, with a full scholarship from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarships.

He has won numerous prizes in the annual Hong Kong School Music Festivals, the Silver prize of the 17th Chopin International Piano Competition in Asia (Tokyo), the Gold Prize Award and two special jury prizes in the Ishikawa International Piano Competition, and the HKGNA International Music Competition 2021 Grand Prize. He had performed in various festivals including the 6th Shenzhen Piano Music Festival in 2018, the Gala Concert of the Ishikawa International Piano Competition in Tokyo, the Mozarteum International Summer Academy in Salzburg, and the International Summer Academy by the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in Reichenau an der Rax. He had also been coached by Boris Berman, Christopher Elton, Robert Levin, Angela Cheng, Graham Scott, Arnulf von Arnim, Vanessa Latarche, Ronan O’hora, Dina Parakhina, and Andreas Frölich. He had collaborated with numerous orchestras including the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra and the Academy Symphony Orchestra of the HKAPA. In 2021, he was invited to perform alongside distinguished teachers and colleagues in the ‘Beethoven 32’ Project organised jointly by the RTHK and the HKAPA, and in 2022, he performed the Beethoven Choral Fantasy with the Academy Symphony Orchestra of the HKAPA in the 25th Anniversary Celebration Concert of the HKSAR, which both were recorded and broadcasted on the RTHK. He made his debut in the same year with the HKGNA in the ‘Celebration of Love & Joy’ concert and HKGNA Music Festival 2022 ‘Music on the Harbourfront’, which was broadcasted on tvN Asia in nine different countries. He was chosen as a scholar under the Sir Elton John Global Exchange Programme of the Royal Academy of Music in 2023.

Apart from being an able pianist, he is also an accomplished composer. He has studied composition at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts since 2013 with Ms. Poly Ng. In 2017, he won the first prize of the 69th Hong Kong School Music Festival Open class Composition Category with the piece ‘The 5 Elements’. In 2018, he was awarded the Gold standard composition winner in the notation category of the TI:ME Electronic Music Composition Contest in the United States with his composition ‘D’Urban’. His abilities in composition is also showcased in his participation in the 2010, 2014 and 2016 Yamaha Asia Pacific Electone Festival held in Taiwan, Malaysia and Macau respectively, in which he composed and performed his compositions himself. In the 2016 season, he was awarded the Grand Prix of the Senior Section, championing in improvisation, performance and composition.