Pronounced a “real talent” by the Wall Street Journal, New York-based Australian pianist Andrea Lam performs with orchestras and leading conductors in Australasia, Japan, China and the United States, including the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and all major Australian symphony orchestras. From New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to the Sydney Opera House, she has played for Sydney Festival, Musica Viva’s Huntington Festival (Australia), Orford Festival (Canada), and Chelsea Music Festival (USA) with works from Bach, Schumann and Chopin to Aaron Jay Kernis, Lilya Ugay, and Nigel Westlake.
The 2024 season includes soloist engagements with Queensland Symphony Orchestra with conductor Umberto Clerici, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra with conductor André de Ridder, Sydney Symphony Orchestra for works by Nigel Westlake and Lior, and with Orchestra Victoria for Arts Centre Melbourne. Chamber concerts include a return with the Australian String Quartet at UKARIA, and the Australia Ensemble@UNSW (Sydney), as well as solo performances of Matthew Hindson’s new works, including at Melbourne Recital Centre. Andrea also makes a welcome return to Chelsea Music Festival (New York) for its 15th edition this year.
In 2023, Andrea featured in acclaimed performances of Schumann and Rachmaninov concerti with the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras with conductors Sir Donald Runnicles and Jaime Martín, and featured in Adelaide Festival in both the Chamber Landscapes weekend curated by Paavali Jumppanen, and the Ngapa William Cooper Project, commissioned by UKARIA and Finding Our Voice, composed by Lior and Nigel Westlake and performed with the Australian String Quartet. Engagements also included Sydney Opera House’ Utzon Music Series, Newcastle and Sanguine Estate Music Festivals, with the Australia Ensemble at UNSW, in recital at Elder Hall (Adelaide) with violinist Emily Sun, alongside several regional concerts. In 2022 Andrea toured Bach’s Goldberg Variations nationally for Musica Viva Australia alongside Paul Grabowsky, performed as soloist with the Sydney, Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, as pianist alongside baritone Bo Skovhus at Sydney Opera House, and for Sydney Opera House’ 2022 International Piano Day livestream, as well as numerous solo concerts and masterclasses in regional and metropolitan centres Australia-wide.
A keen chamber musician, Andrea was pianist of New York’s acclaimed Claremont Trio from 2010 – 2020. Other recent engagements include New York’s Chelsea Music Festival, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, as soloist with the Melbourne and Canberra Symphony Orchestras, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, and Australian Youth Orchestra, with tenor Andrew Goodwin, and as guest of the Australian String Quartet at Dunkeld Festival.
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’s ‘Young Performer of the Year’ Award in the Keyboard section, and the Yale Woolsey Hall Competition. Recently appointed Lecturer in Piano at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Andrea holds degrees from both the Yale, and the Manhattan Schools of Music. Recordings include Mozart concerti with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, with cellist Matt Haimovitz (Pentatone Oxingale), and as part of New York’s acclaimed Claremont Trio. Pianist for violinist Emily Sun on the ARIA-nominated album Nocturnes (ABC Classics), earning a rare 5 star review in The Australian and described as “a winner on every count” (Sydney Morning Herald), Andrea’s next album features solo piano works by Matthew Hindson, due for 2024 release.
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2024 season highlights: soloist performances with Queensland Symphony Orchestra, touring with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in concerts featuring the music of Lior & Nigel Westlake (including Ngapa William Cooper, and Compassion), Chelsea Music Festival (NYC), New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s Winter Festival, for Orchestra Victoria at the Arts Centre Melbourne, and more.
January 2024: Andrea Lam joins Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, at the University of Melbourne, as Lecturer in Piano (read more here). Relocating to Melbourne from Sydney, Andrea looks forward to working with the next generation of pianists, alongside her performance engagements.
Recent reviews:
Utzon Series solo recital, Sydney Opera House:
“a masterful performance” [5 STARS] – Sydney Arts Guide, 2023
Schumann piano concerto in A minor, Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles:
“…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” – Sydney Arts Guide, 2023
“idyllic… an always excellent sense of chamber music rapport between pianist and orchestra… an ending that touched on the transcendent.”
– Bachtrack, 2023
Critically acclaimed album ‘Nocturnes’ (ABC Classics), featuring Andrea as pianist alongside violinist Emily Sun nominated for a 2022 ARIA Award for ‘Best Classical Album’. Read more here.
