News & Reviews
18 October 2022
Award-winning violinist Nikki Chooi delivered an astonishing performance
Award-winning violinist Nikki Chooi delivered an astonishing performance with a waterfall cascade of rushing emotion combined with strings of notes that could outshine the whole orchestra. To hear this breathless performance was to experience an electric shock of awesome pleasure that one carried into the next day and most likely, at least, next month. - The Millbrook Independent
9 October 2022
Buffalo Philharmonic celebrates the shape-shifting Lukas Foss
Soloist Nikki Chooi (the orchestra’s concertmaster) engaged orchestral wind players in gentle dialogue over swinging rhythms in the strings. “Dedication” showcased Chooi’s sweet yet full tone as the violin soared over the light orchestration, then led an expressive climax of robust (not teary) nostalgia.
9 October 2022
Buffalo Philharmonic honors Lukas Foss @ 100 at Carnegie
Chooi’s warm tone and heartfelt playing were evident throughout. In fast passages, Chooi showed off his virtuosity as his bow bounced rapidly on the strings, a spiccato effect. Elements of jazz and country fiddling were woven into the composition; Chooi made the most of each of these styles...
9 October 2022
Trinity Church Wall Street and Opus 3 Artists present Lukas Foss Centennial Celebration in Review
One can hear what Foss calls a “prairie lullaby,” folk-like tunes, ragtime, blues, and some scintillating fiddling. Mr. Chooi played it to the hilt. He was obviously having a great time and is clearly a player of dazzling abilities.
8 January 2022
Review: Albany Symphony shines in return to Proctors; assistant conductor from Philadelphia Orchestra impresses
Aided by the sensational guest concertmaster, Nikki Chooi, the orchestra thrilled the large crowd. Chooi, who is the voice of Scheherazade, played with a forceful but exquisite sensuousness in his many solos.
20 October 2021
INTERVIEW: BPO concertmaster, Nikki Chooi, prepares for a special challenge this week
The Brahms Concerto is a massive work. I describe it as being equivalent to a symphony that happens to feature the solo violin. The uniqueness of this piece is that though it is large in scale, there are moments in which it feels like chamber music, when the texture clears out and the violin converses with individual instruments in the orchestra.
