The 2026 Festival

Gordon K. H. Lau, born in Hong Kong in 1999, is a versatile violist based in Berlin, Germany.

He was the member and one of the founders of the Viatores Quartet, established in 2023, which has archived major recognitions including First Prize and a Special Prize at the Mendelssohn Competition in Berlin, Second Prize at the Irene Steels-Wilsing String Quartet Competition in Heidelberg, and two Special Prizes at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London and Banff International String Quartet Competition. The quartet was mentored by Tabea Zimmermann and Oliver Wille (Kuss Quartet).

Gordon has appeared at renowned festivals such as „Spannungen“ Heimbach, Seiji Ozawa Academy Switzerland, Pau Casals Festival, Yellow Barn, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Zermatt Music Festival etc.

He has performed with distinguished artists including Christian Tetzlaff, Torleif Thedéen, Alexander Longquich, Sayaka Shoji, Rainer Schmidt, Karl-Heinz Steffens, Peter Bruns, Bruno Delepelaire, and Tabea Zimmermann. He has received special artistic guidance from Eberhard Feltz, John Storgårds and Enrico Onofri.

As a passionate chamber musician, Gordon has his own chamber music festival “Löwenberg Kammermusikfest”, co-founded with his brother Alex Lau in Munich, Germany.

Since 2019/20, Gordon has been a scholarship holder of Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz, and in 2023 he was named “Star of Villa Musica.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gordon appeared with his brother on Daniel Hope’s ARTE.tv program Hope@Home, attracting wide attention.

As an orchestral musician, he has performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra Hamburg, and served as guest principal violist with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Kammerakademie Potsdam and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra.

He will serve as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Junges Ensemble Berlin for the 2026/27 season, conducting his debut concert at the Großer Saal, Berliner Philharmonie, in January 2027.

He began his musical journey as a violinist before switching to the viola in 2014, captivated by its warm and rich tone. Gordon studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln with Prof. Werner Dickel, graduated from the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin under Prof. Tabea Zimmermann and German Tcakulov, and spent an Erasmus semester at the Haute école de musique de Genève with Prof. Máté Szűcs. He completed his Master's degree in Chamber Music at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (HfMDK) Frankfurt in 2026, after eight years of study with Tabea Zimmermann.

As a passionate singer, he grew up singing in Hong Kong Children’s Choir, performing worldwide. He has also taken vocal lessons with Kai Wessel, Julian Prégadian, William Sharp, and Cyrille Dubois.

Gordon plays a modern viola made by Hungarian luthier Nikola Popara (Budapest, 2022).