Praised by The Washington Post for combining “staggering technical prowess, a sense of command and depth of expression,” pianist George Li possesses an effortless grace, poised authority and brilliant virtuosity far beyond his years. Since winning the Silver Medal at the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition, Li has rapidly established a major international reputation and performs regularly with some of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, such as Dudamel, Gaffigan, Gergiev, Gimeno, Honeck, Orozco-Estrada, Petrenko, Robertson, Pintscher, Slatkin, Temirkanov, Tilson Thomas, Long Yu and Xian Zhang.
In 2024–25 season Li can be heard across three continents, making debuts with The Philadelphia Orchestra at SPAC and the Minnesota and Belgian National orchestras, in a season opening chamber recital with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall, with Hohhot Philharmonic and Xi’an Symphony orchestras in China as well as Charleston and Des Moines symphony orchestras. Further engagements include returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Symphony Tacoma; the Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Pacific symphonies; as well as the Nordic Chamber Orchestra in Sweden to play-lead Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5. In recital, Li will appear in Montreal, Singapore, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Recent concerto highlights include performances with the Los Angeles, New York, London, Rotterdam, Oslo, St. Petersburg and Buffalo philharmonics; the San Francisco, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dallas, Tokyo, Frankfurt Radio, Sydney, Nashville, New Jersey, New World, North Carolina, Pacific, Valencia, Montreal and Baltimore symphonies; and the Prague Philharmonia, DSO Berlin, Orchestra National de Lyon and Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège in Belgium. His eight-concert tour of Germany with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra included performances at the Berlin Philharmonie, Philharmonie am Gasteig Munich, and the Stuttgart Liederhalle. A collaboration with the Mariinsky Orchestra included performances at the Paris Philharmonie, Luxembourg Philharmonie, New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music, Grafenegg Festival and in various venues throughout Russia.
In recital, Li has previously performed at venues including Carnegie Hall, Davies Hall in San Francisco, Symphony Center in Chicago, the Mariinsky Theatre, Elbphilharmonie, Munich’s Gasteig, the Louvre, Seoul Arts Center, Tokyo’s Asahi Hall and Musashino Hall, NCPA Beijing, Shanghai Poly Theater and Amici della Musica Firenze, as well as appearances at major festivals including the Edinburgh International Festival, Verbier Festival, Ravinia Festival, Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence and Montreux Festival. An active chamber musician, Li has performed alongside Benjamin Beilman, Noah Bendix-Balgley, James Ehnes, Daniel Hope, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Kian Soltani and the Dover and Brentano quartets.
Li is an exclusive Warner Classics recording artist. His debut recital album (released in October 2017) was recorded live from the Mariinsky. His second recording for the label (released October 2019) features Liszt solo works and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1, which was recorded live with Vasily Petrenko and the London Philharmonic. His third album with the label, Movements, was released in the summer of 2024 to critical acclaim and includes solo pieces by Schumann, Ravel and Stravinsky.
Li gave his first public performance at Boston’s Steinway Hall at the age of 10, and in 2011 he performed for President Obama at the White House in an evening honoring Chancellor Angela Merkel. Among Li’s many prizes, he was the recipient of the 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant, a 2012 Gilmore Young Artist Award and the first prize winner of the 2010 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. He is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory, continuing to work with Wha Kyung Byun. When not playing piano, Li is an avid reader and photographer, as well as a sports fanatic.
Photo Credit: Simon Fowler