Lai, Deh-Ho, born in Changhua, Taiwan on February 25th 1943, graduated from the National Taiwan University of Arts. In 1973, he spearheaded the elementary music experimental class as the director of research of the Taiwan Symphony Orchestra in Taichung.

He attended the Orff Institute in Salzburg and studied music education and composition at the Mozarteum Academy of Music on the DAAD scholarship in 1978. After returning to Taiwan in 1981, he taught at the National Taiwan University of Arts. The following year, he joined the faculty of the Taipei National University of the Arts. He collaborated with The Cloud Gate Dance Theatre and produced two works ─ The Tale of the White Serpent (original title Chung Miao) and The Dream of Red Chamber, which won the Wu, San-Lien Literature and Arts Award in 1984 and the National Arts Award in 1987 respectively.

From 1995 to 1998, his Dialect series: Dialect I- Association of Pei-Kuan, Dialect II- Association of Nan-Kuan, Dialect III- Concert Overture and Dialect IV are derived from Taiwanese traditional music Pei-Kuan, Nan-Kuan, opera, Taiwanese folk songs, etc. These works exemplify his awareness for Taiwanese culture and identity. In 2007, the Taipei Percussion organized performances of his major works in the concert series "Composer Biography - Taiwan Contemporary Percussion Music Reading”.

Mr. Lai retired from the National Taipei University of the Arts in 2008. He completed Requiem and Symphony: Four Impressions of My Motherland in 2009. Symphony: Four Impressions of My Motherland is the extension of the Dialect series and the culmination of his musical style with a four-movement symphonic structure, Mr. Lai attempted to use Nan-Kuan, Pei-Kuan and Taiwanese aboriginal music to praise the land and people of the Taiwan. Requiem received its premiere in May 2010 by the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra in its "Hear the Voice of Taiwan - Lai, Deh-Ho’s Music" concert. The work commemorates the tenth anniversary of the “921 earthquake”, and records the aftermath of natural disasters that had struck Taiwan, in order to comfort the deceased and the injured.

Mr. Lai firmly believes that musical works should be rooted in the land and the people, which can also be understood as the national character. This belief explains his combining traditional Taiwanese culture and modern Western composition techniques in his compositions. He received the National Award of Arts by The National Culture and Arts Foundation in 2010. Lai, Deh-Ho is regarded as one of the most important composers of modern Taiwanese music.