Syau-Cheng Lai is a classically trained pianist and visual artist who resides in Ithaca. Born and raised in Taiwan, she received an M.S. degree in animal science and Ph.D. in biopsychology from Cornell University. For her work in art and music, she has received fellowships and grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Constance Saltonstall Foundation, the Cornell Council for the Arts and the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County. She is drawn to expansive projects, having performed Olivier Messiaen's entire piano masterpiece Vingt regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus and Morton Feldman's For Bunita Marcus, the latter integrated with Visualizing For Bunita Marcus, her site-specific installation of 30 yards of textured painting and drawing at Cornell's Olive Tjaden Gallery. Her current piano projects include Beethoven's sonatas op. 109-111 and György Ligeti's Etudes. She also collaborates with instrumentalists, choreographers and film artists on improvisation projects.