Joyce Lai, artistic director and concertmaster
Joyce Lai enjoys a career as a violin soloist, chamber musician and educator. She has been featured as guest artist with several orchestras including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Szeged Symphony Orchestra of Hungary, the Canadian Chamber Academy, and the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong. Locally, Joyce has been guest soloist with, among others, the Stratford Symphony Orchestra, Etobicoke Philharmonic, York Chamber Ensemble, Scarborough Philharmonic, as well as the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra. As an avid chamber musician, Joyce performs regularly in chamber settings and has participated at various festivals including the Clear Lake Chamber Music Festival in Manitoba, the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Festival, the Stratford Music Festival, and the Pender Harbour Chamber Music Festival in B.C. In 2017, Joyce, along with pianist Erika Crino, presented a series of duo recitals featuring all Canadian works in Croatia, Serbia and Italy. These concerts were hosted by the Canadian Embassy in celebration of Canada’s 150th.
As an educator, Joyce runs the Canadian Sinfonietta Youth Orchestra, as well as teaching out of her private studio. She has taught at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts and the Hong Kong Baptist University. She frequently gives violin master classes and adjudicates at music festivals in the Ontario area. Joyce has been greatly influenced by her musician parents- father Tak Ng Lai (with whom she started the violin as a child) and mother Aster Lai, a prominent piano pedagogue. In addition, she was a student of concert violinists Lucie Robert and Nelli Shkolnikova and credits her mentors with both her growth as a violinist and teacher. Joyce holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Manhattan School of Music (NYC) and a Masters of Music and Performer Diploma from the Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music.
As artistic director and concertmaster of the Canadian Sinfonietta, Joyce recently co-produced and recorded on their album “Canadian Mosaic.” It can be heard on all the streaming services https://srgils.lnk.to/rlkvwQ
