About.

Rob Hao is an Australian pianist and composer, currently living in London. His compositions and performances have taken him around Australia, the UK and across continental Europe, with his musicianship having been described as ‘gorgeously transparent’ (Pianist Magazine) to ‘wonderfully idiomatic’ (International Piano). Rob’s debut at the Sydney Opera House was detailed as 'full of personality, authenticity and virtuosity' (ClassikOn Australia) and he has since returned as both composer and performer to the Sydney Opera House and the Melbourne Recital Centre, with further performances around festivals and venues in the UK, such as Aldeburgh, Cafe Oto, York Late Music, Manchester Festival of Song and the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe. Rob’s work has also been broadcast on ABC Radio National, BBC Radio 3 and throughout Europe and the US. His most recent album, featuring the complete two-piano works of Poulenc (performed alongside fellow pianist Antony Gray), was released by Divine Art in 2026 and was featured as an Editor’s Choice in Gramophone.

Rob was born in Auckland, New Zealand and raised in Sydney, Australia, where he studied piano with Ransford Elsley. He then moved to London and graduated from the Royal College of Music, specialising in both composition and piano where he also won first prize for both disciplines in the Contemporary Music Competition alongside prizes for song accompaniment. He also studied with the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, the Dartington School, the Arnold Schoenberg Centre in Vienna and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. 

Rob's recent compositions have taken inspiration from a variety of musical sources - from sea shanties to Schoenberg (and much more). 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 pieces have been commissioned and performed by the Australian National Academy of Music Set, Ensemble Mania, standard issue, the Thames Festival Trust and BCMG’s NEXT Ensemble. 

As a pianist, Rob has a particular interest in collaborative work and the performance of 20th and 21st Century music programmed alongside the traditional repertoire. In recent seasons he has given regional and world premieres of over fifty works, including major solo works by Nicholas Vines, Michael Finnissy and Dominic Flynn. Rob’s debut LP Palimpsest was released in 2025, featuring music from Schubert, Chopin and Finnissy and premiere recordings of works by himself and Alison Kay. 

Rob also currently works at the Royal College of Music as a staff pianist and is an Associate Artist of the Australian Music Centre, where his works are published.