Recent soloist with the FSU Philharmonia Orchestra, Christina Lai, from Plantation, Florida, began her musical training at the age of five. She is pursuing her Doctorate of Music in piano performance under the guidance of Professor Read Gainsford and is a teaching assistant at Florida State University.
Christina was one of four chosen as a William R. Kenan Jr. Music Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Music and a Chemistry minor. Among several achievements, Christina debuted with the UNC Symphony Orchestra performing the Ravel Left Hand Piano Concerto. In the past, she attended and performed at the Chautauqua Institution and the Aspen Music Festival and School as a Thomas S. Kenan Fellow. She has placed in various competitions including the National Association of Negro Musicians Piano Competition, Florida MTNA Competition, Rosen-Schaffel Competition, and Young Artists Piano Competition of the North Carolina Music Teachers Association. Christina competed in the Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists in Ettlingen, Germany, was one of nine national recipients of the Chopin Foundation of the United States' scholarship awards, and was chosen to receive the Marilyn Caldwell Piano Solo Award from the National Federation of Music Clubs. Additionally, she has received guidance from artists such as Nelita True, John Perry, Boris Slutsky, Natalya Antonova, Phillipe Entremont, Ian Hobson, Alexander Gavrylyuk, Winston Choi, Daniel Shapiro and Molly Morkoski.
Complementing to her musical ventures, Christina was an avid volunteer in the music therapy department of the North Carolina Memorial Hospital. She also enjoys teaching and was piano faculty at Good Sam Arts, and an instructor for UNC’s Musical Empowerment, a non-profit organization designed to provide free lessons to underprivileged children, and Aspen Music Festival and School’s Passes and Lessons Scholarship Program. Most recently with Trio Azul, she engaged with the community through collaboration with the Leon County Library and Pulitzer Prize winner Ellen Zwilich; working with Zwilich and performing her piano trio.
Christina Lai
