Biography

Nineteen-year-old James Napoleon Lai began learning piano at the age of five under the guidance of his mother, Ms. Holly Hester. He is currently studying with Professor Aaron Shorr and Professor Fali Pavri at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under the ABRSM Scholarship.

Throughout his musical journey, James has triumphed in numerous local, national, and international piano competitions. In 2020, James secured the first place at the Indonesia Steinway Youth Piano Competition and represented Indonesia in the Steinway’s Asia Pacific Regional Finals. He also won 1st prize at the UCSI International Festival & Competition, earning a scholarship to attend Wells Cathedral School. In 2024, James became the first prize winner of the
Indonesia International Piano Competition, performing Schumann Piano concerto with Jakarta Concert Orchestra under the baton of Avip Priatna. In 2025, James was awarded the Carola Grindea Prize in the 32nd BPSE Senior Intercollegiate Piano Competition. In 2026, James won the Raymond Ali Liszt Piano Competition.

In 2022, James was invited to join the Adam Gyorgy Castle Academy in Hungary and performed the Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor with Budafok Dohnanyi Orchestra in Budapest under the baton of Gabor Werner. He was later invited to the Adam Gyorgy Castle Academy again in 2025 to perform Beethoven Piano Concerto no 3 with the Budafok Dohnanyi Orchestra in Budapest under the baton of Gabor Werner in Budapest, Hungary. James was also invited to perform a piano recital in Balai Resital Kertanegara, Jakarta, Indonesia and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In the same year, James gave a successful recital at the Carnegie Hall (New York, USA). In 2026, James performed as a soloist with the Jakarta Concert Orchestra under the baton of Avip Priatna at the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Stadtcasino (Basel, Switzerland), CSO ADA (Ankara, Turkey) and Auditorium Conciliazione (Rome, Italy)

James’s musical journey are enriched by masterclasses with Loo Bang Hean, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Steven Osborne, Pascal Nemirovski, Ian Jones, Vitaly Pisarenko, John Byrne, Andreas Frölich, Ory Shihor, Steven Spooner, Adam Gyorgy, Avguste Antonov and others.