KEITH LAU

A lover of chamber music, Keith performed Corelli’s Concerto grosso in G minor (Christmas Concerto) with the New Hong Kong Philharmonia at the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall. He has studied the Bartók String Quartet extensively with Csaba Erdélyi, who restored and orchestrated the composer’s Viola Concerto. He has also received guidance from Charles Castleman, Allyson Dawkins, Kuang-Hao Huang, Angela Yoffe, and members of the Ying Quartet and Duo Diorama.

 

As the First Prize winner of the Tokyo International Youth Music Competition (2019), Keith has presented solo and chamber performances in prestigious venues across North America, Europe, and Asia, including Symphony Center, the National Arts Centre, and Shinbori Live Hall, among others. In the summertime, he worked closely with Sara Airoldi, Nikki and Timothy Chooi, Terry King, and Sandro Meo.

 

As an avid orchestral musician, Keith has toured Europe and has the privilege to play under the baton of maestro Riccardo Muti, Dinuk Wijeratne, Henry Kennedy, Ken Lam, Jay Friedman, Unai Urrecho Zubillaga, Stephen Squires, among others.

 

Deeply committed to pedagogy, Keith is on the faculty of Ottawa Suzuki Strings, where he works with young musicians in a supportive and engaging learning environment. His passion for teaching emerged early in his career, when he was hired to teach a high‑school cello class while still in high school himself.  

 

A native of Hong Kong, Keith began his formal cello studies at the age of fourteen with Laurent Perrin, Assistant Principal Cello of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. He then moved to the United States to pursue his Bachelor of Music at the Chicago College of Performing Arts, under the tutelage of Richard Hirschl, cellist at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Recently, he earned his Master of Music under Paul Marleyn at the University of Ottawa. Keith performs on an English cello made by Colin Irving through a cherished pedagogical lineage, passed from Raphael Wallfisch to Laurent Perrin, and now entrusted to him.