Guest Pianist Master Class: Zhenni Li

Zhenni Li, piano

Pianist Zhenni Li, hailed for her "...big, gorgeous tone and a mesmerizing touch" by The Philadelphia Inquirer and “sensitivity, finesse of touch and musical intelligence” by the Concours Clara Haskil, has performed throughout the United States, Europe and China in such notable venues as Lincoln Center Alice Tully Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Merkin Concert Hall in New York, The Grieghallen in Norway, Théâtre de Vevey in Switzerland and the National Concert Hall in Tianjin, China.  Her current musical projects include preparing the complete piano works of Debussy and an upcoming debut CD on the Steinway and Sons label. Upcoming performances include debut recitals in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, and a performance on Astral Artist’s Center City Concert Series in Philadelphia.

    “A MAGNETIC PIANIST—WITH FIRE AND POETRY. EVERYONE SHOULD HEAR HER” BY MUSIC CRITIC DAVID DUBAL  

Her recent engagements include performances of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Edward Gardner, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No.3 with McGill Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Alexis Hauser and with the NYCA Symphony Orchestra under Eduard Zilberkrant, and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.5 with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony with Maestro Jason Weinberger.  Additional performance activities include solo recitals in Philadelphia, Montreal, and collaborations with the New Orford String Quartet and other artists.  Her performances have been broadcasted internationally through numerous sources including WQXR in New York, Canada National CBC Radio, Norwegian National Radio: NPK P2/NPK Klassisk, Texas Public Radio, WFMT Public Radio in Chicago, Iowa Public Radio and WWFM The Classical Network.  She has also appeared as a guest artist for the New York Philharmonic Symposium on Stravinsky with conductor Valery Gergiev.

                           "ZHENNI LI FOUND THE QUIRKY HARMONIC SENSIBILITY AND STRANGE BEAUTY OF SCHUMANN WITH NATURAL EASE, WITH ESPECIALLY INCISIVE DRAWING OUT OF INNER VOICES." —BROAD STREET REVIEW   

Ms. Li is a prizewinner of numerous competitions, most recently the winner of the 2017 New York Concert Artists Worldwide Debut Audition, Astral Artist’s 2016 National Auditions, the Grieg International Competition in Norway, and the unanimous 1st Prize at the Concours Musical de France.  She is also a top prizewinner of the International Russian Piano Competition, Midwest International Piano Competition, the Kosciusko Chopin Piano Competition and The Heida Hermanns International Piano Competition. 

"A PIANIST OF FORMIDABLE MEANS, SHE IS AN UNCOMMONLY IMAGINATIVE AND CREATIVE MUSICIAN."    
 

An active chamber musician, Ms. Li has collaborated with ensembles such as the New Orford String Quartet and Quatuor Hugo Wolf and has performed in such prominent chamber music festivals as Ravinia's Steans Music Institute, Music@Menlo, Fontainebleau Festival, Kneisel Hall and Juilliard ChamberFest.  She has worked with such renowned musicians as Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Leon Fleisher, Miriam Fried,  Richard Goode, Garrick Ohlssohn and Menahem Pressler, as well as her father, from whom she cultivated strong roots in Chinese traditional music.

Ms. Li attended The Juilliard School, where she earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees on a full scholarship under the tutelage of Seymour Lipkin and Joseph Kalichstein in 2012. After obtaining her Artist Diploma studying with Peter Frankl at Yale School of Music, she is now completing her doctorate studies at McGill School of Music under Dr. Stéphane Lemelin.  She currently is on Piano Faculty/Chamber music coach for McGill School of Music for undergraduate students and is an Artistic Publicist and Coordinator for the Concours Musical de France in France since 2010.