Newly named the Conducting Fellow of the Northern Ballet for the season 2025/2026, the Hong Kong-born conductor William Lai is the Orchestra Prize winner of the 5th International Conducting Competition “University of Almería” in Spain, a finalist in Germany’s elite Forum Dirigieren programme and a semi-finalist of the 11th Grzegorz Fitelberg International Competition for Conductors in Poland. He serves as the Principal Conductor of the Gramophone Orchestra in Hong Kong. In 2024, he assisted Herbert Blomstedt with the Gewandhausorchester for concerts and recordings of the Schubert Symphony Cycle.

William Lai has gained opportunities to conduct some of the world-class orchestras internationally including the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Kammerorchester Basel, Nürnberger Symphoniker, Filharmonia Śląska, Lüneburger Symphoniker, Mitteldeutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Brandenburger Symphoniker.

Equally at home in the field of opera, William Lai showcased his operatic and keyboard proficiency, winning critical acclaim for leading the opening night of Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto from the harpsichord at the Alte Musik Institut Hannover. He has collaborated with distinguished soloists such as the International Chopin Piano Competition laureate Colleen Lee, Thomasz Strahl, Isabelle Bringmann, Quiteria Muñoz and Felix Brunnenkant.

William Lai was selected to take part in prestigious masterclasses and has received valuable input from renowned conductors such as Martyn Brabbins, Johannes Schlaefli, Jorma Panula, Ulrich Windfuhr, and Sir Stephen Cleobury. William Lai holds a Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Hochschule für Musik Theater und Medien Hannover, where he studied with Eiji Oue.

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