Latest updates

Workshopping with the Trio Northumbria in Newcastle

Posted on by Israel Lai

I’m very excited that I’ll be presenting my new work cranes among chickens at a workshop with Trio Northumbria, as part of the BFE/RMA Research Students’ Conference in Newcastle in January.

This work is a continuation and a development of my string quartet from earlier this year, out to tolo, which was workshopped by the Carducci Quartet at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival. The original quartet aimed at depicting the sights around the Shing Mun River; the new work builds on this and focuses on the upstream area of the river.

This is the start of a series of works that will further explore this idea.

Receiving my MPhil in Music from Oxford

Posted on by Israel Lai

On 10 Sept 2022, over two years after finishing my degree (thanks to the pandemic), I’ve finally actually OFFICIALLY graduated from the University of Oxford and received my MPhil in Composition!

As I gear up for the second year of my PhD in Manchester, I’m grateful for the multitude of knowledge, skills and (most importantly) experiences that Oxford gave me.

I’ll forever miss this place.

Peter Reynolds Composers Studio at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival

Posted on by Israel Lai

I’m very excited to be joining 5 other brilliant composers at the Peter Reynolds Composers Studio the coming September in Cardiff!

The Vale of Glamorgan Festival is a music festival that celebrates living composers exclusively. Over the one-week programme, there will be concerts featuring music from some of the most prominent composers of our time, presented by equally brilliant ensembles and performers.

The Peter Reynolds Composers Studio, part of the festival, offers a chance to have our own music workshopped by the very same ensembles, and more importantly, learn from our mentors, peers, musicians, and the variety of musics at the festival.

I’m sure it’ll be a once in a lifetime experience for me as well as everyone involved. So come join us!

Gwela i chi yng Nghaerdydd!

Check out the programme!

Starting a doctorate at the University of Manchester

Posted on by Israel Lai

In August 2020, I finished my MPhil at the University of Oxford.

Due to the pandemic, I am not to be formally conferred my degree until late 2022.

Nevertheless, I have officially begun my new journey!

I am now studying for a PhD in Music Composition at the University of Manchester, with Prof Camden Reeves.

Despite the logistic hardships, UoM has been a welcoming community, and it’s been fun to explore the big city.

Stay tuned for more updates and more music!

Commission for Arts Go Digital Platform scheme

Posted on by Israel Lai

I am excited to announce that I have been commissioned under the Hong Kong Arts Development Council’s Arts Go Digital Platform scheme for workshops entitled Decoding Creativity: Interactive Platform for Contemporary Music Appreciation.

I will be writing a piece for a jiwu-guzang duet that draws heavily on observations and phenomena in our age of online meetings and performances. It is a piece that can only be performed through an online platform. Writing for unfamiliar instruments in such an aleatory setting will be a welcome challenge.

The piece will be workshopped and performed in the first half of 2021.

Stay tuned!

I’m graduating from Oxford!

Posted on by Israel Lai

This year has been very different and full of unexpected turns, to say the least. Amidst all the academic work, I wrote and staged an opera. I hurried to Hong Kong, while the pandemic was still beginning, for my grandmother’s funeral.

Thanks to you-know-what, my last term at Oxford was completely cancelled—the term for which, like many Oxford students, I had a bucket list planned. Now it’s all up in ashes.

This is all without mentioning the, quite honestly, history-defining changes that have been taking place in my home town, and the ripple effect that has ushered in a new cold war.

Within all of this, I submitted my dissertation and will soon be a Master of Philosophy in composition. So, no big deal.

There are many factors playing into this, but my most likely next destination from here will be developing my artistry within the UK, working with different ensembles and music lovers here.

I already miss Oxford already, so I am sure it will always have a special place in my heart.

Birmingham, August 2020

Bou6: a chamber opera on riot and tyranny now online

Posted on by Israel Lai

My chamber opera, Bou6, was successfully staged on 26 and 27 November 2019 in two sold-out concerts of the Oxford Contemporary Opera Festival. The recording of the second night is now online, complete with English and French subtitles. All of my team worked very hard on this, and it’s very exciting that new audience around the globe will be able to watch the show and contemplate power dynamics in society through my personal perspective. Please do give it a watch and tell me what you think!

Two Workshops in a Week

Posted on by Israel Lai

I will be workshopping my Suite, consisting of themes from the opera Bou6, with the Kreutzer Quartet. It will be an interesting way to experience the same ideas again but transformed into a different medium.

Date: 11 February 2020, 14:00-17:00
Venue: Ensemble Room, Faculty of Music, St Aldates, Oxford OX1 1DB

Just a few days after, I will also be workshopping my new orchestral piece Summer—finally completing my ‘four seasons’ Swedish Rhapsody cycle—again with the Oxford Philharmonic! This time it’s at a much more convenient location as well.

Date: 14 February 2020, 12:15-14:00, 15:00-18:00
Venue: Jacqueline du Pré Music Building, St Hilda’s College, Cowley Place, Oxford OX4 1DY
John Traill, conductor

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Creating an Opera

Posted on by Israel Lai

Exciting news! My proposal to write a short opera set in the current social climate of Hong Kong, to be entitled Bou6, has been accepted by the Oxford Contemporary Opera Society. It will be staged in the end of November, as the newly created society’s second show, and first one to feature student works. My story will explore the ideas of riot and tyranny and how they are created and labelled.