When Nikki Chooi steps onto the Asbury Hall stage on December 11, he will be doing something he rarely gets to do in Buffalo: performing as a soloist, not steering the orchestra from the concertmaster’s chair. As a central figure in the Buffalo Philharmonic’s violin section, Nikki is already woven into this city’s classical music life — but Double, the debut duo album he recorded with his younger brother Timothy, belongs to a different register. This is sibling chamber music, built from a lifetime of playing in the same room.
About the Show
Nikki and Timothy Chooi are brothers five years apart and two of the most accomplished competition violinists of their generation. Timothy took first prize at the Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition in 2018 and second at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2019. Nikki is a laureate of the Queen Elisabeth and Tchaikovsky competitions and the former concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Their first duo release, Double, came out October 16, 2026 on Orchid Classics.
The partnership goes back further than any competition win. In a feature for The Strad, Timothy described their early bond: “The fact that my brother was doing something, I felt like I needed to do it too.” As a young child, he mimicked Nikki’s violin practice using chopsticks. Both brothers credit their parents’ support and sacrifice as central to their careers, and the album is dedicated to them. The Buffalo program draws from Double: Shostakovich’s Five Pieces for Two Violins and Piano, Prokofiev’s Sonata for Two Violins in C Major, Moszkowski’s Suite for Two Violins and Piano, Leclair’s Sonata No. 3 in E Minor for Two Violins, Sarasate’s Navarra, and an arrangement of Dvořák’s Humoresque. Pianist Eunice Kim joins them. Both play historic instruments: Nikki on a 1713 Stradivarius, Timothy on the 1714 “Dolphin” Stradivarius. The Prokofiev Sonata carries its own history between them: they first performed it together at Nikki’s Curtis Institute graduation recital in 2012. “We’ve spent our lives side by side, sometimes in unison, sometimes carving our own paths, but always connected by the same roots: music and family,” the brothers have said of the project.
A meet-and-greet and CD signing follows the performance.
Venue & Logistics
Asbury Hall at Babeville is a historic music hall at 341 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, in western New York. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. show.
Tickets
General Admission Seated: $40. Gold Circle Reserved Seating: $60. Cash purchases at the Babeville box office are fee-free; card purchases carry a 3% processing fee. The box office is open Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Buy tickets