Karl Lo – Biography

Critically acclaimed as a “performer who impresses without reservations” by the American Record Guide, Karl Lo is a touring recitalist and an active collaborative artist.  He soloed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, and has given recitals across the USA, Canada, Venezuela, and China, including complete cycles of Beethoven piano, violin, and cello sonatas, as well as Schubert piano sonatas and Brahms violin and viola sonatas.  His 2007 presentation of the 32 Beethoven piano sonatas in Chongqing, China, marked the country’s premier performance of such collection.   In recent years, he continues to give annual concert and lecture tours in the Mainland including series which he performed exclusively on a Yangtze River concert grand piano.

Aside from concert engagements, his debut 2-CD recording featuring the last six piano sonatas by Beethoven has been released under the Brioso label.  He also co-organized a fund-raising concert “Music Marathon 2011” which benefited the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Alumni Association.  In addition, he is frequently invited to judge local and foreign competitions, and has served as guest examiner and lecturer at Guangzhou’s Xinghai Conservatory and the Shenzhen Arts School.  

A frequent winner at competitions, Karl Lo won the grand prize at the Canadian Music Competition International Stepping Stone piano division, second prize at the Chopin Competition in New York, second prize at the Kosciuszko competition in Chicago, and fourth prize at the first Chopin Competition in Toronto.  He was named a Liberace Scholar for three consecutive years, and was the recipient of many institutional awards, such as the Dean’s Talent Award, William Kruzban Prize in Piano, Arthur Loesser Prize in Piano, Louis Kaufman Prize in Chamber Music, and Piano Faculty Prize in Accompanying.  

Karl Lo holds a doctorate degree from The Cleveland Institute of Music, and has previously attended the Oberlin College Conservatory, Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and the Academy for Performing Arts in Hong Kong.  His primary teachers include Daniel Shapiro, Paul Schenly, Monique Duphil, Boris Lysenko, and John Winther.  In addition, he has worked with renowned pianists including Barry Snyder, Dmitri Bashkirov, Ferenc Rados, Fou Ts’ong, Gabriel Kwok, Jerome Lowenthal, Murray Perahia, Russell Sherman, Seymour Lipkin, Stephen Hough, and Yin Chen-Zong.  

Karl Lo was a faculty member at the Cleveland Institute of Music from 2002-2008.  As a collegiate instructor, his inspiring approach to lecturing has earned him the nomination for the prestigious 2008 Carl F. Wittke Award for teaching excellence.  He is recently appointed regional consultant by the Trinity College London, and is currently teaching at the