Coco Lau
Sopran
Coco Lau is a soprano with strong stage presence, flourishing coloraturas and splendid high notes. Her training in both classical and contemporary music in Austria and Germany makes her a versatile performer in Europe.
On the opera stage, Lau portrayed Hilda Mack in Hans Werner Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers (1961) under conductor 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. Her operatic repertoire includes Venus and Gepopo from Le Grand Macabre by Ligeti and Lulu by Berg.
Lau’s ability to learn music quickly and her sharp musical instincts have taken her to renowned festivals and stages, including performing Hans Zender’s Les Sirènes chantent quand la raison s’endort (1966) with Ensemble El Perro Andaluz, Daniel Lo’s interdisciplinary music theatre piece Pressed for Love in Hong Kong Cultural Centre (2025), Adriana Hölszky’s Kommentare für Lauren, 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.Coco’s concert repertoire include Brahm’s Ein deutsches Requiem, Orffs Carmina Burana and Mahler’s 4th Symphony.
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.
Coco Lau is since 2024 a part of the KlangForum Heidelberg.