The violist Ting-Ru Lai was born in Taipei (Taiwan) in 1988. She started learning the piano at the age of four and later began to play the viola at the age of nine. Following her studies in Taipei she moved to New York to pursue her master’s degree with Hsin-Yun Huang, and in 2014 she graduated from the New England Conservatory, Boston, with a Graduate Diploma after studying there under Dimitri Murrath. In 2015, she moved to London to continue her studies at the Guildhall School of Music in the Artist Diploma programme with David Takeno.
In addition, Ting-Ru Lai has participated in masterclasses with Nobuko Imai, Thomas Riebl, Roberto Diaz, Guy Ben-Ziony and Wing Ho. In 2016 she was selected to attend the masterclasses in Prussia Cove and for a masterclass with Tabea Zimmermann, hosted by the Hindemith Foundation. She also receives a scholarship from the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein, and participates in the intensive music weeks there.
The young violist has won prizes in several competitions such as the “National Taiwan Viola Competition”, the “Baroque Viola Competition” in Taiwan and the “Queens Symphony Young Artist Competition” in New York. In 2015 she made it to the semi-finals of the “5th Windsor Festival International String Competition” and was a finalist at the “International Hugo Kauder Competition for Viola”.
At the age of 16, Ting-Ru Lai performed as a soloist at the Malaysian Royal Gala Concert. She has also enjoyed solo perfomances with the Hsin-Tien Symphony Orchestra and the Yu-Yun Youth Orchestra. As a dedicated chamber musician, she has performed in festivals including the Perlman Music Program, the Taos School of Music, the Nobuko Imai Viola Masterclass’ New Year Concert, the Great Mountain Music Festival, the Sejong International Music Festival and the Moritzburg Festival in Dresden, the Mozart Festival in Cádiz (with the Soloists of London) the Festival Musethica 2016 in Spain, the Verbier Festival 2016 and the FESTIVAL NEXT GENERATION Bad Ragaz in Switzerland. She has also been invited to perform in several concert series with the New York Classical Players, the Carnegie Ensemble, the Cambridge Arts Composer Focus and the New Asia Chamber Music Society. In 2016 she participated in the Maiastra Chamber Music concert series and in a masterclass for string quartet in England.
Ting-Ru Lai was a member of the “Gioviale String Quartet” from 2012 to 2014. They were twice appointed Honors Ensemble at the New England Conservatory. She is currently a member of the ENSEMBLE ESPERANZA, which is made up of scholarship holders from the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein. In addition, she performed as part of the London Symphony Orchestra’s “String Experience Scheme” in the 2016/2017 season.
February 2017