Bolai Cao is a pianist and educator currently serving as Visiting Assistant Professor of Piano at The Ohio State University. An accomplished soloist, Cao has performed extensively across the United States, Europe and Asia. He has garnered top prizes at numerous international competitions, including the Beethoven International Piano Competition (Vienna), the F. Busoni International Piano Competition and Cantu International Piano Concerto Competition (Italy), the "Top of the World" Competition (Norway), the Ettlingen International Piano Competition (Germany), the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, and the Gina Bachauer International Junior and Young Artists Piano Competition. He has also released two published recordings: Complete Chopin Etudes and the solo album "Hei Bai Yi Cai."

Beyond solo performance, Cao is a dedicated collaborative artist and chamber musician, having performed in ensembles throughout his collegiate career. His collaborative experience spans multiple genres, including world music performances alongside the Grammy Award-winning string duo ARKAI. He also brings significant experience in vocal coaching and opera, having served as a rehearsal pianist and vocal coach for productions such as Die Fledermaus and In a Grove. Additionally, his strong background in keyboard improvisation has led him to design and teach specialized improvisation curriculum. 

As a passionate pedagogue, Cao mentors a diverse studio of collegiate and pre-professional talents, successfully preparing them for national competitions and prestigious conservatory auditions. An in-demand clinician, he has also been invited to present collegiate masterclasses internationally, including engagements in Guangzhou, China. Prior to joining the faculty at Ohio State, he served as a teaching assistant at the Eastman School of Music, where he taught undergraduate piano lessons and supported studio masterclasses. Dedicated to navigating the modern musical landscape, Cao brings extensive expertise in audio production, film scoring, and multimedia creation, equipping the next generation of musicians with vital 21st-century industry skills. 

Bolai Cao's principal teachers at Eastman, Juilliard and the Curtis Insitute include Douglas Humpherys, Robert McDonald, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Meng-Chieh Liu, Gary Graffman, Eleanor Sokoloff, and Ignat Solzhenitsyn.