Jason Lai
Jason Lai is a British orchestral conductor. He was assistant conductor of the BBC Philharmonic from 2002 to 2005. At present he is the Principal Conductor of the Conservatory Orchestra at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music which is part of the National University of Singapore. He is also an integral coach, presenter and speaker.
Biography
Early years
Jason started his musical studies at the age of 10 when he took cello, piano and composition lessons, which continued with the help of a scholarship at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester. In 1993 he was awarded a Hadow Scholarship to study at Worcester College, Oxford, where he became music director of the Oxford University Philharmonia. On completion of his studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama he was awarded a Masters in composition and a Diploma in cello. Jason was then appointed the Fellow in Conducting at GSMD from 2000-2002.2002 onward
Lai was the winner of the BBC Young Conductors Workshop in February 2002 and was awarded the post of Assistant Conductor with BBC Philharmonic. His successful tenure there gave him the opportunity to work closely with many conductors and led to invitations with the other BBC orchestras and the BBC Singers, he made his BBC Proms debut with the BBC Philharmonic in 2003.Jason was a prize winner at the Leeds Conductors Competition in 2005 and has assisted and taken part in masterclasses with Pierre Boulez, Colin Davis, Valery Gergiev and Simon Rattle.
In opera, Lai has conducted Haydn's L'infedeltà delusa for Bampton Classical Opera and Gazzaniga’s Don Giovanni.
Orchestras he has guest-conducted include Hong Kong Philharmonic, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Ulster Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, Malaysian Philharmonic, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, New Japan Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Swan, Macao Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra.