Amy Porter, Nikki Chooi, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra & JoAnn Falletta
Biography Amy Porter, Nikki Chooi, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra & JoAnn Falletta
Amy Porter
has been praised by critics both for her exceptional musical talent and her passion for scholarship. Through a versatile and distinguished career as a concert performer, she has become one of the most skillful and creative muses for composers of our time.
From her prolific performances of Michael Daugherty’s Trail of Tears to her October 2022 performance at Carnegie Hall celebrating Lukas Foss’s centennial with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Porter’s accomplishments speak for themselves.
The multifaceted Porter is also an acclaimed professor of music. Recipient of the Henry Russel Award in 2006, Amy has served as a mentor to developing musicians at the University of Michigan and leads an intensive residency at local colleges and universities for the study of flute performance. Her Flute Studio specializes in exercises, audition materials and advice, as well as performance techniques for the next generation of flutists.
Since 2020, Amy has hosted her popular “PorterFlute Pod” podcast and her AOS-Wellness.com website offers her Anatomy of Sound™ curriculum. Building on Anatomy’s workshop success, the new AOS-Wellness.com website offers courses in peaceful breathing, yoga and meditation, along with channels on movement, meditation, wisdom, practice, and breathing. Through these platforms, Porter highlights the importance of self-care as a direct path to a successful musical career.
She is the Founder of VoiceBox 3-D LLC as an innovator, producing “My Breathing Buddy” lung/ribcage/diaphragm simulators, combining her talents in music education with a drive for business, mentoring with UM Innovation Partners. Touchless teaching will be more popular with the new toolboxes from VoiceBox 3-D and Anatomy of Sound™.
Moreover, in an effort to create holistic experiences for orchestras, presenters and their respective audiences, Amy offers mini-residencies alongside her performances. There, she can connect 1:1 with her colleagues and audiences to support, inspire, and reinvigorate musicians and music listeners.
Winner of the 3rd Kobe International Flute Competition and the Paris/Ville d’Avray International Flute Competition, Ms. Porter has served on international juries around the world, including the 6th Kobe competition. She has been heard in recital on National Public Radio; on PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center; and featured on the covers and as a writer for the magazines Flute Talk in the USA and The Flute in Japan. Her popular study guide on the early 20-century German composer Sigfrid Karg-Elert elicited the following comment from the Spanish Flute Society: “Strength, beauty, a captivating and seductive force, sensitivity, perfection and a sense of humor characterize the impressive American flautist Amy Porter.”
She has won praise both as a recording artist and as a chamber musician. Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, in her New York Timesreview of the CD In “Translation: Selections from J.S. Bach’s Cello Suites” on the Equilibrium label, applauded Ms. Porter for her “gleaming, lyrical reading.”
As a member of Trio Virado, with violist Jaime Amador and guitarist João Luiz, she recently recorded the upcoming second CD “Scaramouche” , to be released in 2024. Previously, they recorded “Mangabeira,” a CD featuring works by Piazzolla, Brouwer, Hand, Assad, and Luiz, about which Ken Keaton wrote in American Record Guide: “They [Trio Virado] present a set of performances that are unfailingly strong, expressive, and imaginative.”
Formerly a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Porter is Principal Flute of North Carolina’s Brevard Music Center, where she performs as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player.
Born in Wilmington, DE, Ms. Porter graduated from The Juilliard School and pursued further studies at the Mozarteum Academy in Salzburg. She plays a 14K white gold flute with rose gold engraved keys made for her by the William S. Haynes Co.
Nikki Chooi
Praised for his powerful and poetic performances, internationally-acclaimed violinist Nikki Chooi has established himself as an artist of rare versatility. Gramophone stated he performed with “total conviction and assurance.” Nikki is a Laureate of the Queen Elizabeth and Tchaikovsky Competitions, and was awarded 1st Prize Winner at the Montreal Symphony's ManuLife Competition, the Klein International Strings Competition, and the Michael Hill International Violin Competition.
Nikki is currently Concertmaster of the Grammy-award winning Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under Music Director JoAnn Falletta. Highly in demand as a guest concertmaster, he has performed with the Boston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Houston Symphony, Sydney Symphony, and Macao Orchestra. Previously Concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Nikki's solos can be heard through The Met: Live in HD broadcasts in productions of Verdi’s La Traviata, Janacek’s Jenufa, and the Grammy-nominated recording of Strauss’ Rosenkavalier released on the Decca Label.
Nikki has been featured at many international festivals with performances at the Marlboro Festival, Ravinia Festival, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, Brevard Music Center, Vancouver Recital Series, Moritzburg Festival, Kammermusik Utrecht, Dresden Music Festival, Chamber Music New Zealand, and Fundación Beethoven in Chile. Additionally, Nikki performs with his brother, violinist Timothy Chooi on selective projects and has also collaborated with esteemed artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Renée Fleming, Eric Owens, and Time for Three. A passionate educator, Nikki has presented classes at Curtis Institute of Music, Morningside Music Program at the New England Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory, Orchestra of the Americas Academy, Sphinx Academy, Hong Kong Cultural Center, and the University of Auckland.
In 2022-2023, Nikki made critically-acclaimed debuts at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium as soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic and at Lincoln Center's Rose Hall with Orchestra NOW. He was also featured soloist with the Vancouver Symphony, Puerto Rico Symphony, National Taiwan Symphony Festival Orchestra, Santa Fe Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic, and Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. In past seasons, he has appeared as soloist with orchestras across Canada and internationally including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Victoria Symphony Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Wallonie, National Orchestra of Belgium, Auckland Philharmonia, Malaysian Philharmonic, and Hong Kong Philharmonic.
Nikki began his studies at the Victoria Conservatory, Mount Royal Conservatory, Morningside Music Bridge, and at the National Arts Centre Young Artist Programme. He completed his formal studies at the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School under the mentorship of Joseph Silverstein, Ida Kavafian, and Donald Weilerstein
He has recorded for Naxos, Beau Fleuve, Atoll, and Decca labels. Nikki performs on a 1713 Stradivarius graciously provided by the company CANIMEX INC. from Drummondville, Quebec, Canada, a 1749 G.B Guadagnini on extended loan through the Stradivari Society of Chicago, and a 2016 Joseph Curtin. Nikki proudly endorses Thomastik-Infeld strings.
