Chi-ju J. Lai

Instructor in Music
Chi-Ju Lai

Education

B.M. Rice University

M.Mus. Yale University

D.M.A. Boston University

Biography

Ms. Lai is an active chamber and orchestral clarinetist in addition to being a teacher. A native of Taiwan and former Hong Kong resident, she came to America at the age of 13 to pursue her musical studies. 

Ms. Lai is passionate about chamber music. She joined the Vento Chiaro Wind Quintet, an award-winning ensemble based in Boston, in 2012. Founded in Baltimore, it was the Ensemble in Residence at the Longy School of Music from 1999 to 2006, and has held short-term residencies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Providence College, Rockport Chamber Festival, The Rivers School Conservatory, Orange County School for the Arts, Virginia Arts Festival and secondary schools throughout the United States. Since 2002, Vento Chiaro has been the coaches and artist-in-residence at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute every summer. With Vento Chiaro, Ms. Lai has been featured on WGBH radio, and has presented concerts and educational events throughout New England. 

Besides her position at Vento Chiaro, Ms. Lai performs frequently in a wide spectrum of chamber music and is a founding member of Boston Octet and the Anemoi Quintet. She previously appeared with the United Woodwind Quintet in a concert tour of Japan, where she also taught Masterclasses. She was also a member of Xanthos Ensemble, a contemporary chamber ensemble. Ms. Lai currently holds the second/assistant clarinet position in the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra and, as an active freelancer, has performed with many national and international orchestras, including the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina, the Tyrol Symphony Orchestra in Austria, and local groups such as the Vermont Symphony, the Eastern Connecticut Orchestra, the Back Bay Chorale, the Cape Symphony Orchestra, the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, the Glenn Falls Symphony, the Gardner Chamber Orchestra and ALEA III.  

Ms. Lai began teaching at Phillips Exeter Academy in 2008. She is also on faculty at the University of Rhode Island, Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts and The Rivers Conservatory.