Emily Lau's Private Studio

Artist Biography

Emily Lau (b.1984) is a composer, singer, and storyteller who fuses elements of ancient music with contemporary techniques to tell unique aural and visual stories.

BBC Radio calls her contemporary compositions "haunting" and "emotional", Cleveland Classical Review praised her singing of medieval music "striking", and Boston Musical Intelligencer called the multi-media shows she produced and directed “magical” and “imaginative”. This Hong Kong-native has set up permanent camp in the strange and fascinating cultural landscape that is the USA with periodic encouragement by major institutions, in both classical and other popular genres.

Life has always been intoxicatingly flavorful for Emily. She has lived and studied on three continents and performed on five; she has sung for people on the subway platform, in grand concert halls, in gothic cathedrals, in recording studios, and alongside many collaborative artists. In 2011, she was involved in a major shipwreck, which led to even more surreal life experiences, including a dark episode of PTSD followed by a creative epiphany. Her life after the disaster included repeat appearances on nearly all major television networks and radio shows both as a storyteller and a musician.

While mostly focused in writing for the human voice, she has also written for solo instruments, string quartet, wind ensemble, and a variety of historical instruments. Her debut compositional album, Isle of Lucidity, was released in 2013. Since then, her works has been commissioned, premiered, and performed by ensembles across the country. 

Emily is the founding artistic director of The Broken Consort, a board member of Early Music America, a collaborator in numerous artistic projects, a social advocate, an avid food and animal lover, a friend, a lover, and a person who cannot help but dreams aloud.  She holds an M.Mus. in Early Music Performance from Longy School of Music of Bard College, a B.A. in Music and Sociology from University of Miami, and multiple fellowships, scholarships, and residencies thoroughout her academic and professional career.

You can find out more at www.emily-lau.com

Teaching biography

Emily is the executive director of the Curiosity Crossing, Portland's Center for Artistic Expressions. Emily is a trained Orff-Schulwerk instructor, an advocate for the Dalcroze Method, and a passionate believer in incorporating a diverse range of artistic disciplines in her teaching. She has taught as a full-time teacher at a National School of Excellence, at an alternative high school for teen moms, and lectured at various colleges and universities around the US including Harvard, Wellesley, and ASU.  She wants her students to be complete musicians who have the ability to play, listen, work with others, improvise, and have a deep appreciation of the art form itself. An engaging and demanding teacher, Emily mostly focuses on teaching dedicated students who are pursuing music with a focused mindset, regardless of genre and current level of achievement. Emily teaches voice, historical performance, music history, piano, and composition. 

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