Coco Lau
»Die heikelste Partie meistert Coco Lau als Hilde Mack, deren vermeintliche Hysterie sich in ›irren‹ Koloraturen äußert.«
Salzburger Nachrichten – F. Oberhummer 25.1.2024
Coco Lau is a classical singer who grew up in Hong Kong. Her training in both classical and contemporary music in Austria and Germany makes her a versatile performer, with a repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary compositions. Lau’s ability to learn music quickly and her sharp musical instincts have taken her to renowned festivals and stages, including the Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele (2025) in Adam & Eva by Mike Svoboda, Heidelberger Frühling (2025), Osterfestspiele Tirol, and the Münchener Biennale (2024), where she appeared in Die neuen Linien #1 and The Gates Are (Nearly) Open by Du Yun with NOVOFLOT in Berlin. Her curiosity and interest in artistic variety have brought her opportunities to work closely with composers such as Ying Wang (Grey Hair, 2024) and Maximiliano Soto Mayorga (Medea Fragments, 2024).
As an artist who enjoys creative exploration and actively seeks out innovative projects, she launched her first open call for scores in 2025 under the theme of Motherhood, in collaboration with Vox Novus —Fifteen Minutes of Fame.
On the opera stage, Lau portrayed Hilda Mack in Hans Werner Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers (1961) under the baton of Gernot Sahler and director Alexander von Pfeil (2024). She premiered Hans-Joachim Hespos’s POÄM (2023), choreographed by Johannes Schropp at Hellerau, and appeared in Jean-Baptiste Marchand’s chamber opera Im Geheimnis at the Limina Festival with Ensemble œnm (2021). Earlier, she performed the role of Suor Osmina in Opera Hong Kong’s production of Suor Angelica (Puccini) in 2017.
Concert highlights include Ligeti’s Aventures et Nouvelles Aventures and the premiere of Dreiundzwanzig by Johannes X. Schachtner at the aDevantgarde Festival (2023), where she sang with Salome Kammer and Ensemble NAMES. Her interpretation of Aribert Reimann’s Lady Lazarus (1992), directed by Angelika Luz, has been featured in Salzburg, Berlin, and Dresden—including a special performance at the Semperoper as part of the symposium Ein Tag für Aribert Reimann in 2023.
She has worked with composers such as Adriana Hölszky, Carola Bauckholt, Sarah Nemtsov, Caspar Johannes Walter, Sergei Newski, Klaus Lang, Kunsu Shim, Dmitri Kourliandski, Jaime Reis, Eloain Lovis Hübner, and Andreas Bäuml. Lau works regularly with Schola Heidelberg, AuditivVokal Dresden, and the Rheinstimmen Ensemble.
Lau holds two master’s degrees from the Mozarteum University Salzburg: a Master of Arts in Voice with Michèle Crider and a Master of Music in Contemporary Music with Lisa Fornhammar. Her artistic development has been shaped by mentors including Manos Tsangaris, Jörn-Peter Hiekel, and Marino Formenti. She is currently based in Dresden, Germany.
(Update on 5-12-2025)
NDR Beitrag Vernissage Dunkel – Licht. Lichtinstallationen
https://www.ndr.de/kultur/kunst/niedersachsen/Licht-Zur-Ruhe-kommen-Ausstellung-von-Goetz-Lemberg,goetzlemberg100.html
Upcoming performance
2026
The Sound of Spirit
AuditivVokal Dresden | Conductor: Olaf Katzer
- Dates: 31st January 2026
- Start: 19:00
- Location: Frauenkirche, Dresden
Auftritt: Lesung zum 1. Todestag von Gerhart Baum
AuditivVokal Dresden | Conductor: Olaf Katzer
- Date: 15 February 2026
- Details TBD
Music theatre: Ordo fluctus (world premiere)
Operation der Künste
Komposition: Jakob Böttcher, Hildegard von Bingen
- Date: End of March 2026
- Place: TD Berlin
- Details TBD
PASSION Salzburg Festival
Pascal Dusapin (1955) Opera PASSION (2008)
Ensemble Modern | Schola Heidelberg
- Date: 23 July 2026
- Place: Kollegienkirche, Salzburg
Berio: Sinfonia
SCHOLA HEIDELBERG | Philharmonische Orchester Heidelberg
- Date: 04., 05.11.2026
- Place: Stadthalle Heidelberg
2027
Prometeo by Luigi Nono
SWR Symphonieorchester | SCHOLA HEIDELBERG
- Dates & Time: Premiere on 6th March 2027 and more…
- Location: Hamburg, Germany and more…
Opera by Ming Tsao (World Premiere)
Nationaltheater Mannheim | SCHOLA HEIDELBERG
- Dates: Premiere 30th September 2027, Performance: 1st to 3rd October 2027
- Time: TBD
- Location: Mannheim Germany
Past performance
Christmas Concerts
SCHOLA HEIDELBERG
Conductor: Ekkehard Windrich
- Dates: 12th, 13th & 14th December 2025
- Start: 20:00
- Location: Heidelberg, Germany
Consolations II by Helmut Lachenmann
AuditivVokal Dresden
Conductor: Olaf Katzer
- Dates & Time: 29. November 2025 at 19:30
- Location: Concert Hall Hochschule für Musik Dresden
- Programme: Consolation II by Helmut Lachenmann
World Premiere: Sammlung by Frédéric Durieux
SCHOLA HEIDELBERG | Ensemble Semblance
Conductor: Walter Nußbaum
- Date: 5th October 2025, 15:30 Uhr
- Location: Abbaye De Royaumont, Royaumont, France
World Premiere: Cantonese Art Song Theatre
SingFest 聲蜚合唱節
29, 30, 31 August 2025
Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong
https://www.singfest.hk/pressed-for-love
- Artistic Concept: Kenix Tsang
- Composer: Daniel Lo
- Music Direction: Dominic Lam
- Direction & Choreography: Ka Ki Li
- Text: Wong Yi
Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele
Opera: Adam & Eva
World Premiere: 2 May 2025 & Performance: 4 May 2025
Rokokotheater, Schloss Schwetzingen
- Composer & Conductor: Mike Svoboda
- Librettist: Anne-May Krüger
- Director: Andrea Moses
- Stage Design: Heike Vollmer
- Costume Design: Anja Rabes
- Video: Sarah Derendinger
- Dramaturgy: Christoph Blitt
- Lighting Design: Paul Grilj
Positive Spaces
AuditivVokal Dresden
A New Year’s Concert Full of Metamodern Sound Experiences
- Date: 14th January 2025
- Start: 20:00
- Location: Leonhardi-Museum Dresden, Dresden
- Programme: Works by René Hirschfeld (World Premiere), Orlando di Lasso, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Kunsu Shim, and Gerhard Stäbler (World Premiere)
Biennale für Neue Musik
SCHOLA HEIDELBERG | ensemble aisthesis
- Date: 31st January to 5th February 2025
- Programme: https://klangforum-heidelberg.de/konzerte-termine
- Details: https://www.biennale-neue-musik.de/
IN TRANSITION
An Interdisciplinary Performance as part of “Chemnitz 2025 – European Capital of Culture”
A fusion of music, visual art, and movement, exploring themes of transformation and cultural dialogue.
- Date: 6th February 2025
- Start: 18:00
- Location: Zentrum für effiziente Hochtemperatur-Stoffwandlung, Universität Freiberg
Olivier Messiaen & György Ligeti
AuditivVokal Dresden Guest Performance with the Dresdner Philharmonie
Conductor: Jonathan Nott
- Date: 22nd March 2025
- Start: 19:30
- Location: Kulturpalast Dresden
- Programme:
- Igor Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps (1947 Version)
- György Ligeti: Lux Aeterna for 16-voice choir a cappella
- Olivier Messiaen: O Sacrum Convivium for choir a cappella
- Claude Debussy: Symphonic Suite from Pelléas et Mélisande, arranged by Jonathan Nott
KlangForum Heidelberg e.V. in Tirol
ensemble aisthesis & SCHOLA HEIDELBERG
- Date: Friday, 4th April 2025
- Start: 19:30
- Location: Salzlager Hall, Saline 18, 6060 Hall in Tirol
2024
Grey Hair (World Premiere)
Concept/Producer/Composition: Ying Wang
- Dates: 23rd November 2024, 19:00 & 24th November 2024, 17:00
- Location: Hebelstraße 9, 69115 Heidelberg
- Video/Light/Editing/Sound: Jakob Klaffs
- Xier (Video): Coco Lau
- Conductor/Electronics: Ekkehard Windrich
Medea Fragments (World Premiere)
Composer: Maximiliano A. Soto Mayorga
- Date: 3rd December 2024
- Start: 18:30
- Location: silent green, Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin
Media
Repertoire
| Opera / Music Theatre | ||
| Henze, Hans Werner | Elegie für junge Liebende (1961) | Hilda Mack |
| Marchand, Jean-Baptiste | Im Geheimnis | Sopran UA 28.10.2021 |
| Puccini, Giacomo | Suor Angelica | Suor Osmina |
| Ligeti, György | Le Grand Macabre | Venus und Chef der Gepopo** |
| Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | Die Zauberflöte | 1. Dame* |
| *Studied | ||
| **Studying |
| Concert | |
| (Selection) | |
| Hölszky, Adriana | Kommentare für Lauren für Sopran, acht Bläser und Schlagzeug (1978) |
| Ligeti, György | Aventures et Nouvelles Aventures (1923-2006) |
| Reimann, Aribert | Lady Lazarus (1992) Link |
| Wang, Ying | UA 23.11.2024 Grey Hair (Video) |
| Maximiliano Soto Mayorga | UA 3.12.2024 Medea Fragments |
| Hespos, Hans-Joachim | UA 06.05.2023 POÄM, Klangszene für 7 Vokalsolisten |
| Newski, Sergej | UA 12.05.2024 Requiem für Alexej Nawalny |
| Lang, Klaus | UA 03.06.2022 Mizu. Yuki (Sinfonia XXII.II) |
| Goeyvaerts, Karel | Litanie IV (1981) Link |
| Yun, Du | UA 5.6.2024 The Gates are (nearly) open |
| Feldman, Morton | Four songs to E. E. Cummings (1951) Soundcloud |
| Kagel, Mauricio | Der Turm zu Babel Nr 2: Und dann sagte der Herr |
| Korngold, Erich Wolfgang | 3 Lieder Op. 22 Link |
| Studied Works | |
| Berio, Luciano | Sinfonia for 8 voices and orchestra (1968) |
| Schönberg, Arnold | Pierrot lunaire, op. 21 |
| Nono, Luigi | Djamila Boupachà (1962) |
| Szymanowski, Karol | Sechs Lieder der Märchenprinzessin Op. 31 |
| Webern, Anton | 3 Gesänge aus ‘Viae inviae’, Op.23 |
| Kurtág, György | Kafka Fragmente Op. 24 |
| Aperghis, Georges | Récitations |
| Oratorio | |
| Bach, Johann Sebastian | Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, BWV 51 (Aria) Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244 Aria: Blute nur, du liebes Herz Ich will dir mein Herze schenken Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben Weihnachtsoratorium, BWV 248 Aria: Flößt, mein Heiland |
| Handel, George Frideric | Messiah HWV 56 |
| Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | Requiem KV 626 |
| Brahms, Johannes | Ein Deutsches Requiem op. 45 |
| Orff, Carl | Carmina Burana |
Your message has been sent
Coco Lau Soprano 