Timothy Chooi

Violinist Timothy Chooi was born in Victoria BC (Canada) in 1993 and made his orchestral debut at the age of seven in a performance with his brother, Nikki, and the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. At the age of 14, he gained a full scholarship for the academy programme at Mount Royal Conservatory in Calgary, Alberta (Canada), and two years later gained a place at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied with Ida Kavafian.

Just a few months after enrolling at the Curtis Institute of Music, Timothy Chooi gave his concert debut with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra directed by Jean-François Rivest. During his studies he won the EMCY prize in the 2014 Menuhin Competition as well as the 2013 Vadim Repin Scholarship Award in New York. Chooi completed his master’s degree at the Juilliard School under the supervision of Catherine Chooi. His mentors include Pinchas Zukerman, Pamela Frank and Patinka Kopec.

Chooi gained international recognition by winning First Prize at the Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition in Hannover, Germany, and Second Prize at the Queen Elisabeth International Competition. He also received the prestigious classical music award, the “Yves Paternot Prize” at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. He has performed with renowned orchestras such as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Belgian National Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and Wiener Concert-Verein, among others. His performances have garnered glowing reviews from venues such as Carnegie Hall, Musikverein Wien, Berlin Philharmonie, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and the Royal Albert Hall in London. Additionally, he has collaborated with esteemed artists including Anne-Sophie Mutter, Pinchas Zuckerman, Jukka Pekka Saraste, Lang Lang, and James Ehnes.

Currently, Chooi serves as the Professor of Violin at the University of Ottawa in Canada. He performs on two exceptional rare violins: the Titan Guarneri Del Gesu violin from 1741, on loan from CANIMEX INC. in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada, and the Engleman Stradivarius violin from 1709, on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation in Japan.

From 2020 to 2022, he studied at Kronberg Academy with Christian Tetzlaff. These studies were funded by Nagarro ES GmbH.