Angel Lam is a New York-based Hong Kong-born composer and writer. She has composed for artists and ensembles such as

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born American Cello, cellist. Born to Chinese people, Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy there and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, ...

Aldo Parisot Aldo Simoes Parisot (September 30, 1918 – December 29, 2018) was a Brazilian-born American cellist and cello teacher. He was first a member of the Juilliard School faculty, and then went on to serve as a music professor at the Yale School of Mu ...

The Silk Road Ensemble Silkroad, formerly the Silk Road Project, Inc., is a not-for-profit organization, initiated by the cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 1998, promoting collaboration among artists and institutions, promoting multicultural artistic exchange, and studying the ebb and ...

Atlanta Symphony Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Minnesota Orchestra The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Th ...

Hong Kong Arts Festival The Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF), launched in 1973, is an international arts festival held in Hong Kong. It covers all genres of the performing arts as well as a diverse range of educational events in February and March each year. Histor ...

Aspen Music Festival The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado. It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music students. Founded in 1949, th ...

and

Pacific Music Festival The Pacific Music Festival (PMF) () is an international classical music festival held annually in Sapporo, Japan. It was founded in 1990 by Leonard Bernstein, along with the London Symphony Orchestra, and 123 young musicians from 18 countries. The ...

, among others.

Biography

Lam holds degrees from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, the

Peabody Conservatory The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a private music and dance conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1857, it became affiliated with Johns Hopkins in 1977. History Philanthropist and ...

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

, and

Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) is a provider of tertiary education in Hong Kong. Located near the north coast of Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island, the main campus also functions as a venue for performances. Béthanie (Hong Ko ...

. She first received a commission from Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute in 2006. The resulting piece she composed, "Empty Mountain, Spirit Rain," caught the attention of

, artistic director of The Silk Road Ensemble. They took the piece on worldwide concert tours throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, Japan, South East Asia, and China, and recorded her piece on two CDs, "New Impossibilities" and "Off the Map". The latter album, in which Lam was one of four featured composers, was nominated for a

GRAMMY The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

in the Best Classical Crossover category. For her second commission from Carnegie Hall, she created the song cycle "Sun, Moon, and Star" with mentorship from

Osvaldo Golijov Osvaldo Noé Golijov (; born December 5, 1960) is an Argentine composer of classical music and music professor, known for his vocal and orchestral work. Biography Osvaldo Golijov was born in and raised in La Plata, Argentina, to a Jewish family ...

and

Dawn Upshaw Dawn Upshaw (born July 17, 1960) is an American soprano. She is the recipient of several Grammy Awards and has released a number of Edison Award-winning discs; she performs both opera and art song, and her repertoire spans Baroque to contempo ...

. In the same year, Lam was mentored by theater artist

Martha Clarke Martha Clarke (born June 3, 1944) is an American theater director and choreographer noted for her multidisciplinary approach to theatre, dance, and opera productions. Her best-known original work is ''The Garden of Earthly Delights'' (1984, re-i ...

to create her theater work "Midnight Run" for music, dance and visual projections in collaboration with the historic Peabody Dance in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

. Other premieres of her works include

Colorado Symphony Orchestra The Colorado Symphony is an American symphony orchestra located in Denver, Colorado. Established in 1989 as the successor to the Denver Symphony Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony performs in Boettcher Concert Hall, located in the Denver Perfor ...

, New York's Greenwich Village Orchestra, New York University Symphony Orchestra,

Hong Kong Sinfonietta The Hong Kong Sinfonietta (Chinese: ) is a professional symphony orchestra based in Hong Kong. It was established in 1990 by a group of local music graduates. It has always aimed at promoting classical music to the public. The orchestra was reorga ...

, Chicago's Northwest Symphony and Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest,

University of California Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

Symphony Orchestra,

Norfolk Chamber Music Festival The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, hosted in Norfolk, Connecticut, is a summer music festival. Set among the Litchfield Hills of the lower Berkshires, the Festival traces its roots to the Battell family, who started hosting summer concerts on the ...

, Yale Philharmonia,

Interlochen Arts Academy Interlochen Center for the Arts ( '; also known as I.C.A. or Inty) is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit corporation which operates Visual arts education, arts education institutions and Music venue, performance venues. Established in 1928 b ...

, Los Angeles Loyola Choir Men's Chorus and Orchestra, and Orange County Women's Chorus. In 2009, Lam was voted "Artist of the Month" by the magazine

Musical America ''Musical America'' is the oldest American magazine on classical music, first appearing in 1898 in print and in 1999 online magazine, online, at musicalamerica.com. It is published by Performing Arts Resources, LLC, of East Windsor, New Jersey. ...

, and by

Yale Alumni Magazine The ''Yale Alumni Magazine'' is an alumni magazine about Yale University. It was founded in 1891. Hal Boyle praised the magazine in a 1957 column. Yale University took over operations of the ''Yale Alumni Magazine'' in 2015. As of July 2015 ...

as "Yalie of the Week". In the same year, she received a commission to compose "Awakening from a Disappearing Garden," a cello and orchestra work for Yo-Yo Ma and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. The composition premiered in New York at Carnegie Hall's China Festival "Ancient Paths, Modern Voices". She was a featured New Stage Theater composer at the 40th

. As composer, librettist, and story writer, she premiered her musical "June Lovers", featuring

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The ASO's main concert venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center. History Though earlier organizations bearing the sam ...

violinist and concertmaster David Coucheron and conductor Perry So, along with six singers and actors with an ensemble of eight musicians. Lam currently resides in New York City and also writes critical reviews for the Broadway, Off-Broadway, and indie shows review website Theasy.com. She is a member of Johns Hopkins University's Distinguished Artist Council and the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund Awardees Association.

External sources

The Silk Road Project – Angel LamGramophone review Off The MapYo-Yo Ma Premiere Awakening from a Disappearing GardenThe Decade the World Tilted East – Financial Times articleMusical America Artist of the Month – Angel Lam
* ttp://music.yale.edu/tag/angel-lam/ Yale Cellos World Premiere by Composer Angel Lam

References

External links

Angel Lam Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lam, Angel Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Chinese composers Yale University alumni Peabody Institute alumni Alumni of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts