Andrea Lam - Pianist

Lauded for her “melting lyricism, filigree touch and spirited eloquence” (The Australian) and pronounced a “real talent” (Wall Street Journal), Australian pianist Andrea Lam is gaining recognition for her dynamic range and stage presence. In recent years, she has given over sixty solo performances with orchestras in Australia, the United States, Japan, and Hong Kong. She has worked with renowned conductors including Alan Gilbert, Edo de Waart, Michael Christie, Marcus Stenz, and Christopher Hogwood.

Andrea Lam was a Semifinalist in the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition, where she was praised for her inventive programming, musicianship, color, and personality. The Van Cliburn blog wrote, “Andrea Lam has it all: great looks, audience savvy, superb technique, and innate musical instincts…with breath-taking pianissimos and phrasing, she found colors and depths in the music I never knew existed.” The Dallas Morning News wrote, “She had probing and sophisticated things to say about the music.” In 2009, she was also the Silver Medalist at the San Antonio Piano Competition, where she won additional prizes for the Best Classical performance and Best Russian performance.

Recent highlights include a debut recording of Mozart Concertos with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Nicholas Milton for ABC Classics to be released in 2010, performances with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, a performance of Saint-Saens Piano Concerto no. 2 with Orchestra Victoria, and a performance of the Dvorak Quintet with the Takacs Quartet.

A native of Sydney, Australia, Andrea Lam was featured in two nationally televised programs, including “Andrea’s Concerto”, documenting her life as a young pianist and ending with her performance of Tchaikovsky Concerto no. 1 with the Queensland Orchestra. Andrea was a featured artist in the 1999 and 2000 Sydney Festival where she performed for an audience of 150,000. In 2006, she toured with Edo de Waart and also toured with the Queensland Orchestra. Andrea Lam has performed with all major Australian orchestras (Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and West Australian Symphony Orchestra).

Andrea Lam has participated in the Yellow Barn festival, was a winner of the Young Performer of the Year Award (Keyboard) in Australia, winner of the ABC Quest Competition Viewers’ Choice Award, Audience Prize recipient at the 2007 Louisiana Piano Competition, and a winner of the Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant.

Andrea Lam holds degrees from the Yale School of Music, where she studied with Boris Berman and won the Yale Woolsey Hall Competition, and the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Arkady Aronov and won the Roy M. Rubenstein award. Her studies there were generously assisted by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust and the Foundation for Young Australians. She currently resides in New York City.