Victoria violinist Timothy Chooi has earned top prize at the 2018 Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition in Hanover, Germany, a win that nets the Juilliard School student $75,000 for his efforts.
Chooi, 24, performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with the NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra during his winning performance. In addition to his cash prize, Chooi was also given a recording contract with NAXOS, one of the top classical record labels in the world, and a loan of a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin valued at more than $500,000.
Winning top-tier international competitions is becoming a regular occurrence for the former St. Andrew’s High School student. In September, Chooi won the 2018 Canada Council for the Arts Music Instrument Bank Competition and received on loan for a period of three years a Stradivarius violin from 1717 valued at $6 million. Earlier this year, he received the Verbier Festival Academy’s Yves Paternot Award and a $10,000 prize.