About.

Australian pianist and composer Rob Hao has performed an extensive range of repertoire from Rameau to Unsuk Chin as both soloist and chamber musician in Australia, the UK and across continental Europe with his playing having been described from ‘absolute stillness’ to ‘stirring and impetuous’ (SoundsLikeSydney). In 2022, Rob premiered Nicholas Vines’s mammoth fifty-minute suite, Indie Ditties, across Australian capitals, which included a recital under the sails of the Sydney Opera House in which his performance was described as 'full of personality, authenticity and virtuosity' (ClassikOn Australia). He has since returned to the Sydney Opera House and the Melbourne Recital Centre with his project Schubert Overwritten, as well as further performances around festivals in the UK and the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe. Rob has also been broadcast on ABC Radio National as well as 2MBS Fine Music. 

Rob’s compositions have also been performed in Australia and the UK. He was the winner of the High Barnet Chamber Music Festival’s inaugural Call for Scores and was subsequently commissioned to compose for the Mad Song Ensemble. Other recent pieces and commissions have been performed by standard issue and BCMG’s NEXT Ensemble. Rob’s recent folk-inspired piano cycle, Songwriting, was a new Australian work chosen for the 2023 Sydney International Piano Competition. 

Rob was born in Auckland, New Zealand and raised in Sydney, where he studied piano with Ransford Elsley and gave his first concerto performance at age 16. He then graduated from the Royal College of Music, London with first-class honours as a double major in composition and piano where he also won first prize for both disciplines in the Contemporary Music Competition. He was also a prizewinner in the Brooks-van der Pump English song competition. 

As a pianist, Rob also has a particular interest in accompaniment and the performance of 20th and 21st Century music programmed alongside the traditional repertoire. He has worked with composers such as Michael Finnissy, Nicholas Vines, George Lewis, Christian Mason, Lisa Ilean and Howard Skempton on their music. Rob has also been a participant in Ensemble Offspring’s Hatched Home Academy as well as a bursary holder for the Dartington School. He also recently studied with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and recently returned to perform as a part of their Ligeti 100 celebrations. 

Rob was a Britten-Pears Young Artist for 2022/23 and he was recently supported by the Finzi Trust and the Australian Music Foundation with an AMF Award. He is currently based between London and Sydney.