BM, Rice University
MM, Yale University
DMA, Boston University
Chi-Ju Juliet Lai, clarinet, is an active chamber and orchestral musician, as well as pedagogue. A native of Taiwan who later resided in Hong Kong, she came to America in 1989 to pursue her musical studies. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Clarinet Performance from Boston University, a Master's in Music from Yale University, and a Bachelor's in Music from Rice University. She also attended Interlochen Arts Academy and is an alumna of Blossom Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and Eastern Music Festival. Her teachers include Thomas Martin, David Shifrin, Deborah Chodacki, Phillip Rehfeldt and David Peck.
Since coming to Boston in 1999, Miss Lai has been an active freelancer and has appeared in performances with many local as well as national and international orchestras, including Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Tyrol Symphony Orchestra in Austria, and local orchestras such as Cape Symphony Orchestra, New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, Glenn Fall Symphony, Gardner Chamber Orchestra, Eastern Connecticut Symphony and ALEA III. As an avid chamber musician, Miss Lai is a founding member of Boston Octet and Anemoi Quintet. Previously, she appeared with the United Woodwind Quintet in a concert tour to Japan where she also taught master classes. She is also a former member of Xanthos Ensemble, a contemporary chamber ensemble.
Miss Lai is currently the clarinetist in Vento Chiaro and the second/assistant clarinetist in Atlantic Symphony Orchestra. She is a faculty at Phillips Exeter Academy, College of the Holy Cross and Bridgewater State University. As a member of Vento Chiaro, she is also an artist-in-residence at Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) and at The Rivers School Conservatory.