One of Canada's most versatile and sought-after composers, Kevin Lau has been commissioned by some of Canada's most prominent artists and ensembles, and his work has been performed abroad in the USA, UK, Denmark, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, and Korea. A prolific composer of orchestral, chamber, ballet, opera, and film music, Kevin served as Affiliate Composer of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 2012 to 2015; to date, he has produced eight works for the TSO. Additional composer residencies include the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra (2020-2023) and the Niagara Symphony Orchestra (2018-2019). He has composed three original ballets for companies including the National Ballet of Canada (Le Petit Prince), National Arts Centre (Dark Angels), and Bravo Niagara! (Kimiko’s Pearl). His seven string quartets are championed globally by internationally renowned quartets such as the Viano, Poiesis, Tesla, Dior, and Afiara Quartets. His recent hour-long symphonic work, The Spirit Horse Returns (produced in partnership with Indigenous artists), has been a staple of orchestral family concerts across Canada since 2022.
Kevin’s music can be found on 13 commercial recordings, including two JUNO Award-winning albums. His solo album, Under a Veil of Stars, features exclusively his chamber music (performed by the St. John-Mercer-Park Trio), and was hailed as “a wonderful discovery” (La Scena). His music-and-text adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fable The Nightingale was published in 2023 as an illustrated children’s book by the Houston-based River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (ROCO) and Silversmith Press.
Kevin's creative output, often inspired by the fantastical lens of childhood, is unified by a fascination with flow, and the search for deep connections amidst surface diversity — connections that serve as a metaphor for the reconciliation of seemingly fundamental differences.
