香港钢琴家、资深音乐教育家及声乐合作演奏家。“美乐坊”顾问老师及“乐倡者”艺术总监。
刘活石专长于钢琴合奏,曾联同多个乐团演出钢琴协奏曲,又多次举行双钢琴、钢琴四至八手联弹演奏会,曾为香港钢琴四重奏“Piano Extravaganza”成员之一 。她同时热衷声乐及艺术歌曲,为炙手可热的钢琴合作演奏者,又常作声乐指导,屡次兼任歌词翻译工作,所合作过的声乐演唱者不计其数。刘活石之弹奏被誉为“极具灵气...指触流利而敏感,音色美丽通透,音乐处理恰到好处,演奏蕴含诗意与深情”。
刘活石早年以优等成绩先后毕业于香港浸会学院音乐艺术系及英国伯明翰音乐学院,皆为两所学院之杰出旧生。在学时主修钢琴演奏,先后师承谭家杰及Malcolm Wilson,又分别随John Humphreys及Anthony Saunders研习钢琴伴奏及室乐演奏。她曾分别获两所学府颁发多项奖学金,更获伯明翰音乐学院颁授荣誉院士衔,并曾获邀为校外顾问。
刘活石一直致力于钢琴与音乐培育工作,举行大师班及讲座,并经常担任钢琴比赛评委,门生人才辈出。刘活石自九二年任教于香港浸会大学音乐系,现亦为香港教育大学艺术系及香港中文大学专业进修学院导师,历年分别教授钢琴主科、音乐修养、聆听分析、演奏实践、钢琴教学法及钢琴合作演奏学。
近年,刘活石积极提倡认识运动科学/体适能与器乐弹奏或演唱的重要性,希望音乐学习者能培养健康良好的弹奏或演唱习惯。刘活石去年为柏斯音乐基金会Kawai‘爱心送暖’担任爱心大使。现为意大利Fazioli钢琴代言人、“美乐坊”顾问老师及“乐倡者”艺术总监。
Grace Lau has long established her piano education profession whilst giving music performances from time to time. Enjoying collaborative work, she had played with orchestras as soloist and as member of piano ensembles from 4-8 hands. She was one of the founding members of Hong Kong Piano Quartet “Piano Extravaganza”. Besides, her expertise in vocal accompanying and coaching has earned her many recital engagements. Her playing exhibits sensitive touch and exquisite tone with poetic ideas and profound thoughts.
Honored as distinguished alumni, Lau graduated with distinction both from the Hong Kong Baptist University and the Birmingham Conservatoire inEngland, majoring in piano performance with Ka kit Tam and Malcolm Wilson respectively. Moreover she studied piano accompanying with John Humphreys and received chamber music coaching from Anthony Saunders. Receiving a number of awards and scholarships from both of the institutes, Lau was also designated the Honorary Membership from the Conservatoire upon her accomplishment in the music profession and had been invited to be the external advisor.
Lau has been on the piano faculty of the Music Department of HK Baptist University since 1992. At present, she also teaches at the Education University of HK and the School of Continuing & Professional Studies of the Chinese University. Throughout the years, she has given lectures on aural perception, keyboard skills, general musicianship, performance practice, piano pedagogy, piano collaborative playing as well as conducted piano masterclasses and adjudicated for various piano competitions.
In recent years, Lau advocates the importance of physical fitness with music performance. Lau was the ‘Kawai’ charity ambassador of the Parsons Music Foundation last year. She is currently a ‘Fazioli’ endorser, consultant of Melos Music and the artistic director of Los Cantantes.