Jocelyn Lai, piano

Event Description

Through paired solo piano works by Chopin, Coulthard, and Schubert, Vancouver-based concert pianist Jocelyn Lai reveals how composers across eras use the piano to express transcendence, identity, and human experience.




Recital Program




Frédéric Chopin (1810 – 1849)
Variations Brillantes, Op. 12 (9′)
Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61 (12′)


Jean Coulthard (1908 – 2000)
Image Astrale (11′)
Image Terrestre (6′)


Intermission




Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828)
Impromptu in G-flat major, Op. 90, No. 3 (7′)

Piano Sonata in A major, D. 959 (38′)
Allegro
Andantino
Scherzo (Allegro vivace) – Trio (Un poco più lento)
Rondo (Allegretto)




Jocelyn Lai is a Vancouver-based concert pianist celebrated for her compelling artistry and imaginative programming. Praised by the Vancouver Sun for “get[ting] the balance between lush lyricism, sparkling keyboard figurations, and formal rigour just right,” she has appeared in recital across Canada, the United States, and Spain as a soloist and chamber musician. A competition laureate on the national and international stage, she garnered first prizes at the CIM Concerto Competition and the American Protégé International Competition, and second prizes at the Shean and Knigge National Competitions. In her youth, she represented British Columbia at Nationals through the Performing Arts BC Provincial Festival, one of many festivals around the province she now returns regularly to as an in-demand adjudicator.

Deeply committed to music education, Jocelyn serves as the piano instructor on regular faculty at Douglas College and teaches a few talented and competitive young artists at Vancouver Academy of Music. Jocelyn holds degrees from the University of British Columbia, the Juilliard School, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the CUNY Graduate Center. She is indebted to her teachers: Jane Coop, Julian Martin, and Hae Sun Paik for their mentorship and wisdom.