Saxophonist Eric Lau has given concerts throughout the United States as well as in Europe, Puerto Rico and Brazil. As a concerto soloist, Dr. Lau has been featured at both national and regional North American Saxophone Alliance Conferences as well as with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and the Roswell Symphony. His commitment to new music has led to the premiere performances of more than a dozen new works for saxophone by composers David Maslanka, Roshanne Etezady, Gunther Schuller, Michael Colgrass and Ida Gotkovsky. Dr. Lau's solo album, Journey: Five Centuries of Song for the Saxophone, features transcriptions of the vocal music of Mahler, Laitman, Messiaen and 17th and 18th century Italian composers. In addition to his solo performances, Dr. Lau has performed with the New Mexico Philharmonic, Santa Fe Symphony, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Performance Santa Fe, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Albuquerque Jazz Orchestra and the Santa Fe Opera.
As baritone saxophonist with the nationally acclaimed Iridium Quartet, Dr. Lau has commissioned and given premiere performances of many new works for saxophone quartet. Iridium's recordings Into Xylonia and Skylines feature new American music and can be found on the Blue Griffin Label. This group has appeared as artists-in-residence at the Festival of New American Music (FeNAM) in Sacramento, CA; the John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium in Albuquerque, NM; and at Chatter Albuquerque. Iridium has also given performances and masterclasses throughout the United States, appearing in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, Puerto Rico and Texas. As a former member of the acclaimed Great Lakes Saxophone Quartet, Dr. Lau has recorded "Urban Requiem" by Michael Colgrass and "Three Blues for Saxophone Quartet" by Charles Ruggiero on the Arizona University Recordings label.
A dedicated teacher, Dr. Lau serves as Professor of Saxophone at the University of New Mexico. Prior to his appointment at the University of New Mexico, he held positions at the State University of New York at Potsdam, Olivet College and Hope College. He has served on the executive board of the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) and directed NASA's second region. Dr. Lau received his doctor of musical arts and master of music degrees from Michigan State University and his undergraduate degree in saxophone performance from Louisiana State University. His major teachers include Joseph Lulloff, James Forger, Andrew Speight and Griffin Campbell. Eric Lau is a Yamaha Performing Artist and a D'Addario Woodwind Performing Artist.
