Professional Biography
Kai is an active collaborator, musician, photographer and birder who enjoys combining various interests in collaborative projects. As a pianist, he has played extensively with his brother Ben, a violinist, and various other chamber groups. He particularly enjoys exploring new music and collaborating with composers, which has led him to work with composers from across the country at places like the Yarn/Wire International institute and DeCoda Chamber Music Festival, along with multiple composers from his home state of Oregon. In addition to working extensively with small ensembles, Kai has worked with larger ensembles including accompanying Lawrence Choirs and playing in the Lawrence New Music Ensemble. In his solo performances, he often brings in his interest in bird song by programming music inspired by the natural environment. Kai is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at the Lawrence Conservatory of Music in the studio of Dr. Michael Mizrahi.
When not playing piano, Kai works extensively with musicians, photographing concerts and producing music videos and other multimedia. He is the conservatory photographer, videographer and social media manager at the Lawrence Conservatory of Music, photographing major concert series, classes and rehearsals and producing recruitment material such as department and faculty profile videos.In his free time, Kai is an active birder and has written about birds and birding for Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Black Swamp Bird Observatory and the Oregon Birds magazine, and he currently writes a weekly bird column for the Lawrentian newspaper. In his teens, he served on the board of his local Audubon Society and helped launch the Young Birders Network (now the Global Young Birders Network).
