David lai, co-president

David Lai (he/him) is an original founder of Park Avenue Artists. David has worked on management teams for a variety of artists including Joshua Bell, Yebba, Itzhak Perlman, Renee Fleming, 2CELLOS, Emerson String Quartet, Kate Davis, Ashley Brown, Ryan Silverman, Jordan Donica, and Eldar Djangirov.

A multiple Grammy® award winner, ten time Grammy® nominee, and Emmy® award-winning producer, David's recording credits range from from jazz to classical to pop to Broadway. Artist recordings include Joshua Bell, Time For Three (Grammy® Award), Placido Domingo, Herbie Hancock, Ricky Martin, Megan Hilty, Lang Lang, Eldar (Grammy® nomination), Josh Groban, Renee Fleming, Itzhak Perlman, Nathan Gunn, Ashley Brown, Megan Hilty, Kristin Chenoweth, and Audra McDonald. His Broadway cast albums produced include Hadestown (Grammy® Award), West Side Story (Grammy® Award), My Fair Lady (Grammy® nomination), Come From Away (Grammy® nomination), Fiddler on the Roof (Grammy® nomination), The King and I (Grammy® nomination) starring Ken Watanabe and Kelli O'Hara, South Pacific (Grammy® nomination), Promises, Promises starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth, (Grammy® nomination), Funny Girl with Lea Michele, Camelot, an all-star cast album of Allegro, and Spanish cast albums of The Phantom of the Opera and Jesus Christ Superstar.  David’s most recent recording projects including the Merrily We Roll Along cast album featuring Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez for Sony Masterworks, and the Violin Concerto by Thomas DeHartmann featuring Joshua Bell, Dalia Stasevska and the INSO-Lviv Symphony.

David also was the A&R Executive for the Grammy®-winning Songs of Joy & Peace (Yo-Yo Ma) and Grammy®-nominated Bach in Havana (Tiempo Libre).   David has served as a Consultant Producer for many PBS specials including Live at Lincoln Center's broadcasts featuring Renee Fleming and Joshua Bell, Joshua Bell's HBO YoungArts special, Renee Fleming's Christmas in New York program, and Lang Lang’s New York Rhapsody.   David received an Emmy award for Time For Three’s PBS special and an Emmy nomination as Music Director for Joshua Bell’s “Seasons of Cuba”.

David has conducted many symphony orchestras including Dallas, Fort Worth, Pacific, Taipei, Jacksonville, and the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra. Television appearances include The Today Show, GMA, The View, and CBS This Morning. As a music director/pianist, David has appeared at: the Rainbow Room, Caramoor Festival, CBGB's, and the Bottom Line. David also headed up A&R and served as a producer to Sony Masterworks for classical, jazz, and Broadway recordings. 

David served as  Music Director and Conductor for the Broadway company of The Phantom of the Opera conducting over 6000 performances. Other Broadway credits as conductor, music coordinator and/or keyboardist include Sweeney Todd starring Josh Groban, Spamalot, Lincoln Center’s Camelot, Bad Cinderella,  Hadestown, My Fair Lady, King Kong, Come From Away, Cats, Sunset Boulevard, Fiddler on the Roof, King and I, Bonnie and Clyde, Evita, Mary Poppins, Wonderland, South Pacific, Miss Saigon, The Woman in White, Riverdance, Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Misérables, and Aspects of Love.

David received BAs in Engineering, Economics and Music from Brown University, and an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Columbia University.