{"id":118134,"date":"2025-10-06T11:59:48","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T15:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=118134"},"modified":"2025-10-06T16:50:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T20:50:58","slug":"scrutiny-musical-afternoon-nikki-chooi-amici-chamber-ensemble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/10\/06\/scrutiny-musical-afternoon-nikki-chooi-amici-chamber-ensemble\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | A Musical Afternoon With Nikki Chooi And Amici Chamber Ensemble"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Violinist
Violinist Nikki Chooi (Photo: Den Sweeney)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Virtuosic Afternoon with Nikki Chooi. Amici Chamber Ensemble concert. Ondrej Kukal\u2019s Present; J.S. Bach\u2019s Chaconne from Partita No.2 in D Minor BWV 1004; Pablo de Sarasate\u2019s Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20; Samuel Coleridge-Taylor\u2019s Quintet in f-sharp minor, Op. 10. At Trinity St. Paul\u2019s Centre, 427 Bloor St. West. October 5, 3 p.m.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

One of the great pleasures in attending a concert by the aptly named Amici Chamber Ensemble is the feeling of amiability that pervades the Jeanne Lamon Hall as the music is performed.<\/p>\n

The Amici trio \u2014 cellist David Hetherington, clarinetist Joaquin Valdepenas and pianist Serouj Kradjian \u2014 have been making music together for decades and the feeling they convey is one of intelligent, joyful sharing. Their programs are playfully put together with oddities and discoveries from the classical canon mixed with recognizable masterpieces to satisfy the most discerning of listeners. Adding to the pleasure of their concerts is their selection of guest artists to perform with them \u2014 some famous, some less so.<\/p>\n

In the well-known category is Canadian violinist Nikki Chooi, who is a Laureate of the Queen Elizabeth and Tchaikovsky Competitions, and a First Prize Winner of the Michael Hill International Violin Competition among many accolades.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s the Concertmaster for the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra and has performed as a soloist in many symphonies including the Boston, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Sydney. Amici dubbed their concert with Chooi a \u201cvirtuosic afternoon,\u201d and, indeed, it was.<\/p>\n

Bach To Kukal To Sarasate<\/h3>\n

When you are going to feature a fine musician, it\u2019s a great idea to have them perform a stunning solo piece. Amici did just that, showcasing Chooi\u2019s prowess with the Chaconne from Bach\u2019s Partita No. 2 in D Minor. Chooi played it with precision and subtle power, ringing through the emotional and technical challenges with depth and understanding.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Chooi after the concert, he said, \u201cI\u2019ve worshiped the chaconne since I was a kid. It\u2019s not only a masterpiece \u2014 it\u2019s a feat for humanity to write something so meaningful. The structure, the organization of the composition, it\u2019s just so remarkable. We’re lucky to have it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chooi followed that masterpiece with a lovely \u2014 but certainly less significant \u2014 composition by Pablo de Sarasate, Zigeunerweisen, performed as a duo for violin and Serouj Kradjian\u2019s piano.<\/p>\n

The composition was one of the most popular in the latter part of the 19th century and is overwhelmingly Romantic. One can imagine couples swooning to it back then, taken in by the beauty and melancholia expressed through the nearly weeping violin and the flamboyant piano. Heard today, it affords the opportunity for a couple of fine performers to evoke the past while working through a still enjoyable piece.<\/p>\n

The program had begun before the Bach centrepiece with a contemporary composition by the Czech Ondrej Kukal, Presents, which gave Chooi the chance to play a duo with David Hetherington. The two know each other very well, as Chooi\u2019s wife studied cello with Hetherington, and that\u2019s how the violinist first heard the Ensemble in concert.<\/p>\n

Chooi told Ludwig Van, \u201cWe love the group’s chemistry, the music that they play, and the interaction with the audience.\u201d The Kukal composition is propulsive and charming, undoubtedly a pleaser when it\u2019s performed mainly in Czechia.<\/p>\n

Second Half<\/h3>\n

After an intermission, Amici offered the third of their trio, clarinetist Joaquin Valdepenas an opportunity to showcase a composition. Valdepenas found a piece by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, a pioneering Black composer of the 19th century, which subtly positions the clarinet as the leading instrument in a string quintet. Chooi refers to the piece as \u201creally cool\u201d while Valdepenas acknowledges that it is influenced by Brahms but has elements of the gospel as well.<\/p>\n

Coleridge-Taylor\u2019s Quintet in F-sharp minor, Op. 10 is a delightful piece \u2014 and it received its Toronto premiere at the concert, over a hundred years after it was composed.<\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n

Amici means friendship \u2014 a name that harmonizes with the meaning of this distinguished ensemble\u2019s programming and performance style.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Ludwig Van, Serouj Kradjian says that the group\u2019s musical curiosity leads them \u201cto explore the repertoire outside of the traditional.\u201d Quietly avant-garde, the Amici should \u2014 and most likely will \u2014 continue to be a voice for progressive values in North American music and culture.<\/p>\n

By: Marc Glassman<\/a> for Ludwig-Van<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Reflections on a Musical Afternoon with violinist Nikki Chooi and the Amici Chamber Ensemble, including repertoire from Bach to Ondrej Kuka.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":118136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41660,74,10,76,19,38,52,63],"tags":[258,2411],"yst_prominent_words":[12826,12825,12827,17418,11600,9875],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Copy-of-REVIEW-2025-10-06T115830.239.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-uJo","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118134"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118134"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118159,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118134\/revisions\/118159"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118134"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=118134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}