Si-Yang Lao, originally from China, began his violin studies with his father at the age of 7. After receiving his bachelor’s degree from the prestigious Shang-Hai Conservatory of Music, he became a violin teacher at the Xin-Hai Conservatory of Music for two years before coming to the United States to further his studies. He earned his master’s degree from the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston.
Lao was first Prize winner of the 1990 Leopold Shopmaker Award (a Mid-American violin competition) and 1992 Texas Music Teacher Association Competition. He was awarded a full scholarship and was one of a few who received the Dorothy Sterling Foundation Scholarship from the school, which provided him the opportunity to serve as assistant teacher to Ms. Fredell Lack while he was in school.
Lao joined the Houston Symphony during the 1997–1998 season and has performed as solo artist with Galveston Symphony Orchestra, Austin City Symphony Orchestra, and Kansas City Symphony Orchestra. He has toured the United States, Hong Kong, Japan and all major cities in Europe with the Chinese Virtuoso Orchestra and the Houston Symphony. He performs on an old Italian violin made in 1750 by Gulius Caesar Gigli.