biography
Pronounced a “real talent” by the Wall Street Journal, and finalist for Limelight’s 2024 and 2025 Artist of the Year, ARIA award-winning Australian pianist Andrea Lam performs with leading orchestras and conductors across Asia and the USA. Recently returned to Australia after two decades in New York, Andrea has played to audiences from New York’s Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House, with works from Bach, Chopin, Mozart and Schumann to Aaron Jay Kernis, Liliya Ugay and Nigel Westlake.
Making her orchestral debut at age 13 with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, since then Andrea has performed as soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Hong Kong Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony, and San Francisco Ballet Orchestras, and all the major Australian symphony orchestras, with conductors including Simone Young, Jaime Martín, Sir Donald Runnicles, Alan Gilbert, Eivind Aadland, Michael Christie, and Wing-sie Yip. A regular guest of festivals she frequently collaborates with artists including cellist Matt Haimovitz, the Takacs Quartet, Ani Kavafian, and the Australian String Quartet.
Andrea featured in the Sydney Opera House’ International Piano Day 2020 and 2022 livestreams, New York City’s Chelsea Music Festival and the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, DC). Recent seasons’ performance highlights include soloist engagements with the Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmanian and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, a critically acclaimed national tour of Bach’s Goldberg Variations for Musica Viva Australia, and recitals for Sydney Opera House’ Utzon Music Series, and the 2023 ABC Classic 100 concert broadcast on ABC iView.
In 2025, Andrea headlined the ABC’s new hit television series, The Piano, as classical expert alongside multi-Grammy and Emmy award-winning musician, composer and actor, Harry Connick Jr, and doyenne of Australian media, Amanda Keller. In addition to soloist engagements with the Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, with renowned conductors including Simone Young and Jaime Martín, and Benjamin Northey, Andrea toured to the USA as concerto soloist in the Grand Teton Music Festival (USA), at the invitation of Sir Donald Runnicles. With her widespread appeal, Andrea performed in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Myer Music Bowl series before an audience of 8,000 and returned for the Classic100 concerts at Arts Centre Melbourne with the MSO. Other highlights included concerts with the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, with Australia Ensemble at UNSW, with the Goldner Quartet, and regional festivals such as the Four Winds’ Easter Festival, where Andrea took on the dual role of Artistic Curator, and performer.
In 2026 Andrea features with the Melbourne, Adelaide and West Australian Symphony Orchestras, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (NZ), in recital with Sir Bryn Terfel for the Sydney Symphony, with the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, UKARIA Cultural Centre, Castlemaine State Festival, returns for Dunkeld Festival with the Australian String Quartet, and curates and performs in a long weekend of concerts for Four Winds (NSW).
Alongside the much-anticipated Season 2 of The Piano on ABC TV and iView in March 2026 – as classical expert along pop mentor Guy Sebastian - Andrea makes her radio debut with weekly show, ‘The Art of the Piano’, on Classic FM.
Winning the 2025 ARIA Award for ‘Best Classical Album’, Andrea’s solo recording, Piano Diary (ABC Classic) earned widespread acclaim, remaining for weeks at no.1 on the ARIA Classical and Classical/Crossover charts. Invited by renowned Australian composer Matthew Hindson AM to premiere and record his ‘Sad Piano’ pieces, Andrea’s recording of these works were released on ABC Classic for Australian Music Month 2024, and worldwide on Idiom Records (UK), reaching no.2 on the ARIA Classical Charts, and earning acclaim, including: “Lam’s mesmerising recording… listening is a must” (pianodao.com). Earlier recordings include as pianist on the 2022 ARIA-nominated album Nocturnes with Emily Sun (ABC Classics), described as “a winner on every count” (Sydney Morning Herald) and earning a rare 5-star review in The Australian; Mozart concerti with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Nicholas Milton); with cellist Matt Haimovitz for Pentatone Oxingale, and on New York City based Claremont Trio’s celebrated recordings. A keen chamber musician, Andrea was pianist of the New York City-based Claremont Trio from 2010 - 2020. Described by Strad Magazine as “one of America’s finest young chamber groups'“, their Beethoven disc for Bridge received universal critical acclaim.
Lecturer in Piano at Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (University of Melbourne), board director of the Australian National Academy of Music, and for Four Winds, Andrea Lam was a Semifinalist in the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition, Silver Medalist in the 2009 San Antonio Piano Competition, and winner of the ABC ‘Young Performer of the Year’ Award in the Keyboard section, and the Yale Woolsey Hall Competition. Andrea holds a Bachelor of Music from the Manhattan School of Music, and Artist Diploma and Master of Music from Yale University (USA).
A native of Sydney, Australia, Andrea has featured in several nationally televised programs, including Andrea’s Concerto, documenting her life as a young pianist and her performance of Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, as guest on ABC TV’s Spicks and Specks, and A Bite to Eat with Alice, alongside her role as classical expert on The Piano.
Updated February 2026
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PRESS
“In a change of mood Australian pianist Andrea Lam joins the SSO for Burleske, a sparkling and witty piece that Strauss wrote paying tribute to his twin heroes Brahms and Wagner. Its electrifying runs and arpeggios are carried off with calm assurance and the romantic passages are given a Rachmaninovian heft… One for the ages.” [5 STARS]
– Steve Moffatt, Limelight magazine, September 2025
“Strauss’s Burleske (1885-86) for piano and orchestra is full of Stauss’s (and Germany’s) swaggering ambition in the decades after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. In performance, it demands a wicked, and not particularly subtle, sense of humour. The work begins and ends with quiet solos on the timpani and a considerable part of the pianist’s role in between is to tame that instrument’s exuberance. At a particularly obstreperous moment around the recapitulation, pianist Andrea Lam coaxed it back into polite society with quiet voice and soothing insistence. Elsewhere, Lam played with confident brilliance and bravura.” [4 STARS]
– Peter McCallum, The Age, September 2025
“Burleske, that fiendishly difficult work for solo piano and orchestra, followed, performed with admirable ease and safe technique by Andrea Lam. …her chromatic octaves cascaded with absolute control and her solos radiated with loving nuances of rubato.”
– BachTrack, September 2025
“The Burleske with its piano pyrotechnics was a perfect vehicle for Andrea Lam to display her astonishing piano prowess. Speedy riffs dispatched with ease were balanced with her superb handling of phrases dripping with sentimentality and all the time her playing was elegant… In this performance there was clearly a lovefest between Lam and Young and the audience, and that is great for live music.”
– ClassikOn, September 2025
“a joy to watch… Lam’s solos were mesmerising, not a murmur in the audience.”
- The Local Paper, February 2025 (live review, Rhapsody in Blue, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra/cond. Jaime Martin)
“… Lam’s mesmerising recording… listening is obviously a must.. These are consummately crafted, and refreshingly original pieces… Sad Piano offers a wealth of beautifully conceived and emotionally intelligent music that succeeds in rising far above most of the ambient piano music in the “new classical” genre. These deeply rewarding pieces seem guaranteed to speak abundantly to players and audiences alike. … the internal terrain of Hindson’s music speaks to our continuing human experience. These are compositions of enduring value, and the whole album is a balm to the soul.”
– Andrew Eales, pianodao.com (January 2025)
“The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra was rewarded with a large and responsive audience for the first two of its 2024 Immerse concerts. … In the Mozart concerto, the assured artistry of soloist Andrea Lam contrasted sparkling allegro passagework with graceful nuance with regard to the andante’s familiar melody. …On Saturday… Lam penetrated the very soul of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major, luxuriating in the composer’s sly Gallic jazz as the orchestra alternatively jived and sighed around her.”
– William Dart, New Zealand Herald, August 2024 (“New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in Auckland Town Hall”)
“…the concert’s standout work, Mozart’s glorious Piano Concerto No. 21. Under de Ridder’s baton, the orchestra’s playing was crisp and taut, a touch spikier than usual with Mozart. This was well-matched by the soloist, Australian pianist Andrea Lam, whose calm, elegant style was flexible enough to allow moments of unusual syncopation. The famously glowing second movement continued in the same vein, the playing delicate and restrained… Lam, meanwhile, brought nobility, taste and stillness to this most meditative and heartfelt of movements. … this was a performance of simultaneous warmth and clarity. Lam’s gentle encore – a Chopin Nocturne in C# minor – perfectly caught the mood.”
– Max Rashbrooke, The Post (NZ), August 2024 (“NZSO playing crisp and taut in Mozart standout”- full review here)
“Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major was the absolute highlight of the evening. Andrea Lam played brilliantly. Her interpretation and sensitivity to Mozart’s work was impeccable. … Lam’s command of the music, coupled with de Ridder’s direction, added the special X factor. … It made for almost effortless listening. Lam treated us to a beautiful Chopin encore, which proved her talent beyond doubt.”
– Tamsin Evans, Regional News: Eyes on Wellington (NZ), August 2024 (“Mozart: the Great” – full review here)
“the Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor Op 54 was given spacious and lyrical treatment by Andrea Lam, Donald Runnicles and orchestra. The challenges of this work’s constant, close and intricate interplay between pianist and orchestra were seamlessly overcome. … a flexible, touching reading with formidable clarity. Amidst capable bravura as soloist in the foreground or in the background enhancing the textural layering, Lam was meshed brilliantly with various sections of SSO. Her presentation of Schumann’s side themes made for a riveting and hugely varied set of storytelling... fine pianism full of integrity and colour from guest pianist Andrea Lam... A Brahms intermezzo as encore from Lam... brought the soloist and this SSO event more ecstatic ovation...”
- Sydney Arts Guide, 2023 (live review, R. Schumann piano concerto, Sydney Symphony Orchestra/cond. Sir Donald Runnicles)
“a sensitive pianist, and her rendition of the A flat major nocturne in the development section of the first movement was idyllic… an always excellent sense of chamber music rapport between pianist and orchestra… an ending that touched on the transcendent.”
- Bachtrack, 2023 (live review, R. Schumann piano concerto, Sydney Symphony Orchestra/cond. Sir Donald Runnicles)
“Pianist Andrea Lam played with flair and verve, bringing each movement to life in a musical celebration. Lam’s quick, gentle touch and freedom of expression really highlighted the intricacies in Schumann’s score... mesmerising in the opening allegro maestoso movement. ... The Adelaide audience was suitably impressed and rewarded Lam, and the ASO, with rapturous applause.” [4.5 stars]
- Artshub, 2022 (live review, Clara Schumann piano concerto, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra/cond. Eivind Aadland)
“Andrea Lam treats performances as storytelling ... and her rendering of this masterpiece [Schubert A major sonata, D 959] was riveting, every return of themes changed irrevocably by what had happened in between. Her phrasing, her rhetoric, and her deep powers of expression perfectly suited this music.”
- Australian Stage, 2022 (solo recital, Blackheath Chamber Music Festival)
“with quicksilver touch she negotiates every corner. Sudden flights of fancy in the treble as bass dances break into downhill runs, clockwork in precision and pace, calming again to a meandering melody with contrasting bass… Lam’s crystalline clarity opens a window on the soul of a master, transfixing the hall with transcendence and wonder. A pin-drop pause holds sway before “Brava!”; a lone voice bursts the dam of admiration and praise. How to follow that? … Lam summoned the art to speak for itself.”
– The West Australian, 2022 (Bach Goldberg Variations, Perth Concert Hall)
“Lam gave us a deft interpretation that took advantage of the piano’s powers to sustain and to offer toccata-like brilliance… a full-blooded demonstration of hefty two-part counterpoint… You couldn’t ask for a more lucid and fair reading, each line individual and perceptible throughout… a masterclass in accelerating excitement and energy with sparkling finger-work in the right-hand demi-semiquavers and an exhilarating interplay.” – Clive O’Connell, 2022 (Bach Goldberg Variations tour)
“Lam brought the full romantic resources of the piano to bear on her Herculean task… No brittle percussiveness for her. Weaving the thread of the aria’s melody through its harmonic framework, she imparted a soft, ruminative quality, going on to give a richly coloured interpretation that celebrated Bach’s astonishing creativity.”
– The Age, 2022 (Bach Goldberg Variations tour)
This performance was one of sublime beauty from beginning to end... packed so full of emotion... This was tear-jerking stuff. The finale was thrilling... building to a conclusion that, unsurprisingly, brought cheers and thunderous applause from the large audience.[4.5 stars]
- Limelight Magazine, May 2021 (live review, Rachmaninoff piano concerto no.2, Canberra Symphony Orchestra)
“A gorgeous debut album of late Romantic French music… This is a winner on every count: the music itself, the individual playing, the expressive intensity, and the collaboration between the pair, who seem to breathe as one.” [4.5 stars]
– Sydney Morning Herald, July 2021 (Nocturnes album review, with violinist Emily Sun, SMH ‘Album Pick of the Week’)
“formidable... Lam communicates an assuredness born of reflection on the ethos of the works themselves. Together, they accompany us through the sonic gardens of Monet. This listener can hardly wait for their next release together, whenever that may be... ” [5 stars]
- The Australian, August 2021 (Nocturnes album review, with violinist Emily Sun)
“Concerto for Two Keyboards in C major, BWV 1061 (1734) by J.S.Bach ... performed here by the string ensemble and two pianists, Andrea Lam and Melinda Lee Masur... although it is far from easy to execute. The coordination between the two pianists was so tight that it was frequently hard to tell who was playing what and when”
– Broadway World, 2019 (live review, Chelsea Music Festival, New York City)
“What a glorious pianist Andrea Lam is! Economical in style, sensitive in her interpretations and masterful in her understanding of the repertoire”
– Canberra Times, August 2019 (Canberra Symphony Orchestra/cond. Nicholas Milton)
“This is some of the most difficult piano music Beethoven ever wrote — more difficult than almost all 32 of the sonatas, and on a par with the hardest parts of the piano concertos. Ms. Lam was, in a word, fabulous, handing in what may have been the best piano playing of the entire festival in conquering this ferocious score.”
– Oregon Arts Watch, 2017 (Beethoven Kreutzer Sonata, Chamber Music North West Festival live review)