Jason Lai
A cellist, pianist and composer by training Jason Lai first came to notice as one the leading lights in a new generation of young conductors after the BBC Philharmonic voted him the winner of the BBC Young Conductors Workshop. His successful tenure as Assistant Conductor to the BBC Philharmonic from 2002-2005 gave him the opportunity to work closely with principal conductor Gianandrea Noseda, and to conduct the other BBC orchestras and BBC Singers in various concerts and recordings which have been broadcast on Radio 3. He made his BBC Proms debut with the BBC Philharmonic in 2003.
Jason was a prizewinner at the Leeds Conducting Competition in 2005 and has assisted and taken part in masterclasses with Pierre Boulez, Colin Davis, Valery Gergiev and Simon Rattle.
Jason has conducted Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, New Bristol Sinfonia, Nottingham Philharmonic, Orchestra of Opera North, Oxford University Orchestra, and Havant Symphony Orchestra; he has also worked with British Youth Opera, Guildhall School Opera and English Touring Opera. He made his debut with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra shortly after winning the BBC Workshop and was also invited to conduct Hong Kong Sinfonietta.
Recent UK appearances have included Liverpool Mozart Orchestra, Bampton Classical Opera, Ulster Orchestra where he replaced Vernon Handley at short notice, Salomon Orchestra, Haydn Chamber Orchestra, Paragon Ensemble and Royal Philharmonic. Other engagements abroad include Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen in a concert at the Bremen Jazz Festival, Malaysian Philharmonic, Evergreen Orchestra, Taipei Symphony Orchestra and Hong Kong Philharmonic.
As a broadcaster Jason has appeared on the panel of BBC Young Musician of the Year competition and was a judge in the recent BBC2 classical talent show Classical Star. He was one of the conducting mentors in the BBC2 series Maestro which aired in August 2008 and won the competition with his celebrity student comedienne Sue Perkins.
Born in the UK Jason Lai began his musical studies at the age of eleven and was awarded a scholarship to Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester, to study cello with Raphael Wallfisch and Gillian Thoday. In 1993 he was awarded a Hadow Scholarship to read music and composition at Oxford University. During his time at Oxford he was invited by the Allegri Quartet to join them for several performances in the University and on tour in the UK, he was also appointed Music Director of the Oxford University Philharmonia which gave him his first chances to conduct major repertoire.
As a composer he was a finalist in the BBC Young Composers Award (1994) where his piece Synopsis was performed by London Sinfonietta, other pieces premieres have been given by Philharmonia Ensemble and the BBC Singers. He completed his studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, studying composition with Robert Saxton and was appointed Fellow in Conducting.