[1] Timothy (Timmy) Chooi was born in Victoria, British Columbia, to an Indonesian mother and a Malaysian father, both of Chinese ethnic background.

As a young child, his father worked in Florida[2] and Chooi moved and immigrated to the United States of America with his family.

Chooi started playing the violin at the age of three with the Suzuki method at the Victoria Conservatory of Music with Esther Tsang.

[8] Chooi rose to international attention when he won the first prize of the 2018 International Joseph Joachim Violin Competition in Hanover, Germany,[9] bringing him a cash prize of €50,000, numerous concert engagements, a recording, and a three-year loan of the "1765" Guadagnini violin from the Fritz Behrens Foundation.

In 2010, Chooi was awarded the Grand Prize at the OSM Standard Life Competition (one of the youngest recipients in history).