Program
 

Intermission
 

with current teachers Wha Kyung Byun and Russell Sherman, Photo credit: Jian Li with Elisabeth Christensen (Director of NEC Prep Division), Cathy Chan (presenter), Mark Churchill (Dean Emeritus, Preparatory & Continuing Education of NEC), Dorothy Yang Shi (George’s first piano teacher).

on stage at NEC’s Jordan Hall. with conductor Benjamin Zander and Prof. Bruce Brubaker (Chairman of NEC Piano Department).

standing ovation. with friends.

Possessing the soul of a romantic matched by brilliant technique, 16-year-old pianist George Li is a young artist with expressivity beyond his years. Rounding off last season with a performance for Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Obama at the White House along with capturing the 2012 Gilmore Young Artist Award, Mr. Li is well on the way to a flourishing career.

Winning First Prize in the 2010 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, George will open the Young Concert Artists Series this season with his New York debut in the Peter Marino Prize Concert at Merkin Hall, make his Washington debut at the Kennedy Center, sponsored by the Alexander Kasza-Kasser Prize, and will appear in Boston at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Other 2011-2012 recitals include debuts at the Festpiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; at the Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival as a Gilmore Young Artist and the Vancouver Recital Society as well as engagements with Music for Youth, Chinese Performing Arts at Jordan Hall, the Port Washington Library, Saint Vincent College, LiveARTS, and Shriver Hall, among others. As soloist with orchestra, George Li performs with the Akron Symphony and has been invited for a return engagement with the Spartanburg Philharmonic.

George Li gave his first public performance at Boston’s Steinway Hall at the age of ten. He has appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra as First Prize winner of the inaugural Cooper International Piano Competition at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the Xiamen Philharmonic in China, the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra in Venezuela, the Boston and Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestras, the Miami, Princeton, Albany and Lexington symphonies, and with “I Solisti di Perugia” in Italy. At ages six and seven, he won First Prize in the Minnesota Music Teachers Association Piano Competition.

Mr. Li performed at the opening ceremony of Boston’s new Institute of Contemporary Art and the inauguration of President Tony Woodcock at the New England Conservatory. He has appeared in recital presented by the Hilton Head International Piano Competition and the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition.

As an avid chamber musician, Mr. Li is a member of the New England Conservatory’s Vivace Trio, which has played on “From the Top” on NPR and WNET. The Trio also performed for members of US Congress at the Senate Office Building in Washington, DC.

He attends the Walnut Hill School for the Arts and studies at the New England Conservatory Preparatory Division with Wha Kyung Byun.
7/11/2011

2010 is the Milestone Year for the 15-year-old Pianist George Li.

In July, George performed Chopin Concerto No. 1 with the Cleveland Orchestra and won the first prize in the Cooper International Piano Competition 2010; a prize includes 4-year scholarship in Oberlin Conservatory and performances in Beijing and Shanghai, China.

In November, George Li won the first prize in the Young Concert Artist International Auditions. The prize package includes debut performances in New York, Washington D.C. and Boston, as well as 3-year or more professional concert management by YCA.

Born in August 1995, George Li (黎卓宇) is a 10th grade student of Walnut Hill School and the New England Conservatory (NEC) Preparatory School, where he studies piano with Ms. Wha Kyung Byun (卞和暻). George's previous piano teachers include Mrs. Dorothy Shi (楊鏡釧) and Mr. Yin Chengzong (殷承宗).

Since his first public performance at Boston Steinway Hall at ten years old, George is gaining significant attention as a recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist with orchestra. George has appeared at the opening ceremony of Boston's new Institute of Contemporary Art, at the inauguration of President Tony Woodcock at New England Conservatory, solo recital at Boston's Steinway Hall, and performed with the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall. He also played at New York's Carnegie Hall in the new TV series produced by the popular NPR radio show, From the Top. In addition, he has been featured on WBZ-TV's Liz Walker Show and ABC's Martha Stewart Show. George was presented by the Hilton Head International Piano Competition and by the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition to perform solo recitals.

As an active chamber musician, George is the pianist of New England Conservatory's Vivace Trio. The Trio has performed on From the Top's radio series, at the NEC's annual gala, Feast of Music. The ensemble also performed for members of US Congress at Senate Office Building, Washington D.C., as well as for NPR at WGBH.

George has performed Haydn Concerto #11, Beethoven Concerto #1, Saint Saens Concerto #2, Mendelssohn Concerto #1, Mozart Concerto #21, Schumann Concerto and Chopin Concerto #1 with symphony orchestras. These orchestras include Cleveland Orchestra (Jahja Ling conductor); Xiamen Philharmonic (China; Tao Lin conductor), Symphony Pro Musica (Mark Churchill conductor), Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela (Venezuela; Sarah Ioannides conductor), Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (Benjamin Zander, conductor), Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra (Arkady Leytush conductor), Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra (Sarah Ioannides conductor), Miami Symphony Orchestra (Eduardo Marturet conductor), Waltham Symphony Orchestra (Patrick Botti conductor), Nordic Chamber Orchestra Sweden (Christian Lindberg conductor), Princeton Symphony Orchestra (Benjamin Zander, conductor), Albany Symphony Orchestra (David Alan Miller Conductor), Lexington Symphony Orchestra (Jonathan McPhee), and Orchestra "I Solisti di Perugia" (Spoleto, Italy). George is also invited to perform Rachmaninoff Concerto #2 with Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra (Arkady Leytush conductor)

George won first prizes in MMTA piano competition at the age of 6 and 7. George won second prizes in both the Virginia Waring International Piano Competition and the World Piano Competition at the age of nine. In 2008, George won the second prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Junior Artist Competition. In 2010, George won the first prize in the Cooper International Piano Competition in July; George also won the first prize in the Young Concert Artists International Competition in November.

George lives with his family in Lexington Massachusetts. George is an active fan of the Boston Red Sox. Piano is not George's only love and excel. Besides music, he enjoys reading, biking, soccer, baseball, computer games and attending concerts. He also shows talent and interest in math, science, and literature.