Pianist Brian Lam performs works by Chopin, Schubert, and Liszt live from the Chicago Cultural Center in this week’s Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert broadcast.
Hailed by pianist Claude Frank as “a superbly talented young pianist,” Brian Lam has performed at numerous concert venues around the globe. He has recently claimed the First Prize at the Hong Kong International Concerto Festival Competition, where he performed Rachmaninoff’s Second Concerto with the Hong Kong Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. In 2017, he was named a finalist at the First VIVO-S International Music Competition, a Second-Prize winner at the New York International Artist Association Piano Competition and a Gold Medalist at the Philadelphia Young Classical Virtuoso International Piano Competition. Other notable achievements include winning First Prizes at the 2016 American Protégé International Concerto Competition (Professional Category) and at the 2014 Brooklyn College Concerto Competition, performing Chopin’s E minor concerto under the baton of George Rothman.
In 2011, Lam was granted a full scholarship to the International Keyboard Institute and Festival at the Mannes College of Music. He also appeared at the Hudson PianoFest at Nyack College of Music in 2015. He has played at Steinway Halls in London & New York, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall at the Kaufmann Music Center, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in New York, Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Hong Kong City Hall, etc. His current concert season highlight includes a guest artist piano recital and masterclass sponsored by the Nyack College School of Music, a recital on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series and a solo debut recital at Carnegie Hall.
Lam holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance (summa cum laude) from Brooklyn College, City University of New York. His principal mentors are William Wolfram and Dr. Adam Kent. He has also worked with world-renowned musicians: Sergei Babayan, Claude Frank, Gabriel Kwok, Jerome Lowenthal, Alexander Moutouzkine, Ursula Oppens, HaeSun Park and Nelita True.
Besides actively performing, Lam is also a revered educator in the piano community. Lam has been invited to give piano masterclasses in Hong Kong and in New York. He has been an official Steinway Educational Partner since August 2018 and currently holds a private piano studio in Brooklyn, New York. In addition to teaching, Lam serves as the Music Director and Organist of the Homecrest Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, where he provides music for weekly worship services.
