Dai studied piano from a young age and at the age of 12 was admitted to the Secondary Music School, affiliated to Nanjing University of the Arts, for further piano studies. Still a kid, he won the Silver Award at the 1st Mozart Piano Competition, held in Jiangsu. At the age of 15, he studied composition and conducting, also winning the Master Liu Haisu Scholarship. At the age of 19, he was admitted to the Composition and Conducting Department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music (SCOM) with honours, studying orchestral conducting with Zhang Mei, Ma Geshun, Cao Peng, Zhang Guoyong, and Wang Yongji, as well as masters Gennady Rochdestvensky, Roger Norrington, Michael Tilson Thomas, Jorma Panula, and Thomas Sanderling. In 1997, he conducted the symphony orchestra at the concert ‘Taipei/ Shanghai Music Showcase’ and ‘Overseas Alumni Symphony Concert’ marking the 70th anniversary of SCOM, garnering wide acclaim by professionals at home and abroad. Later, he participated in many major concerts, including: Jiangsu Music and Dance Festival, China Art Festival, Beijing Modern Music Festival, Shanghai Spring International Music Festival, and Shanghai International Art Festival. He won the Golden Award for Conducting at Jiangsu Music Festival. In 2000, he cooperated with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and was hailed as ‘a young conductor with great potential and talent’ by the Music Weekly in China.
Over the recent years, Dai Luqing has worked with several Chinese orchestras, including: Drum Soul, a concert featuring works by Li Min-xiong; the Concert Marking the 80-year Creative Career of Lu Chunling; Charming Melodies, a concert featuring famous folk music pieces by renowned composers; Legend of Flute Melodies concert in Singapore; New Concept Drama Melodies, a concert featured at Shanghai Spring International Music Festival; and the National Erhu Teaching and Creation Forum Concert. He has also served as the resident conductor of the Xiaoyan Choir of the Zhou Xiaoyan Opera Center, the resident conductor of Jiangsu Symphony Orchestra, and has been guest conductor of Shanghai Opera House Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, and Hunan Symphony Orchestra. He is now a teacher at the Composition and Conducting Department of SCOM, and also the principal conductor of its Chinese Orchestra.