Yundi Li (Piano soloist)
Li Yundi (born October 7, 1982) is a Chinese classical
pianist. He is also popularly known as Yundi and formerly Yundi Li. Born in
Chongqing, Li is most well known for being the youngest pianist to win the
International Frйdйric Chopin Piano Competition, in 2000, at the age of 18. He
currently resides in Hong Kong.
His father, Li Chuan, and his mother,
Zhang Xiaolu, both had worked for the Sichuan Chongqing Steel and Iron Company.
Although coming from a family of non-musicians, Li took to music early. When he
was three years old, his parents bought him an accordion after he was so
entranced by an accordion player in a shopping mall that he refused to leave. He
mastered the instrument by the age of four, studying with Tan Jianmin, a music
professor in China. Only one year later, he won the top prize at the Chongqing
Children's Accordion Competition. Li began studying piano at the age of seven.
Two years later, his teacher introduced him to Dan Zhaoyi, one of China's most
renowned piano teachers, with whom he would study for nine years. Li's ambition
was to become a professional pianist. In 1994, he entered the Shenzhen Arts
School, Shenzhen, China. He later studied at the Hochschule fьr Musik, Theater
und Medien Hannover in Hanover, Germany.
Li has received top awards at various competitions. He won the Children's
Piano Competition in Beijing in 1994. In 1995, he was awarded first place at the
Stravinsky International Youth Competition. In 1998, he won the 1998 Missouri
Southern International Piano Competition (Junior Division). The next year, he
took Third Prize at the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition of Utrecht,
as well as being a major winner in the China International Piano Competition. He
also won first place at the Gina Bachauer Young Artists International Piano
Competition.
In October 2000, at the urging of the Chinese Culture Ministry, Li
participated in the 14th International Frйdйric Chopin Piano Competition in
Warsaw. He was the first participant to be awarded First Prize in 15 years. At
18 years of age, he was the youngest winner—and the first Chinese—in the
competition's history. Li was given the "Polonaise award" by the Chopin Society
for his performance at the competition.
Soon after, Li sought out pianist Arie Vardi as an instructor, and therefore
left his parents' home to live and study at a music school in Hannover, Germany
("Hochschule fьr Musik und Theater").
Li's debut in the United States took place in June 2003 at Carnegie Hall, as
part of Steinway and Sons' 150th Anniversary Gala. His United States concerto
debut took place the next month, when he performed Chopin's Piano Concerto
No. 1. He was also honoured at a special reception at the home of the
Chinese Ambassador to the United States, where he performed for various
officials of the U.S. State Department.
Li's second recording of Liszt for Deutsche Grammophon, for whom he
exclusively recorded until November 2008, was released in August 2003 and was
named "Best CD of the Year" by the New York Times. His third recording,
comprising Chopin's four Scherzi and three Impromptus, was released in late
2004. He is scheduled to release a recording of Beethoven sonatas in late 2012
for Deutsche Grammophon. He has also given a recital in the renowned Musikverein
in Vienna, performing works by Mozart, Scarlatti, Schumann, and Liszt.
Li obtained Hong Kong residentship in November 2006 under the Quality Migrant
Admission Scheme, among the first batch of people to do so under the scheme.
Li is the subject of a 2008 feature-length documentary, The Young Romantic:
Yundi Li, directed by Barbara Willis Sweete. He appeared as a Pennington Great
Performers series artist with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, also in
2008.
In January 2010, Li signed an exclusive recording contract with EMI Classics
with plans to record the complete works for solo piano by Frederic Chopin.
Li performed a solo recital at the Royal Festival Hall in London on the March
16, 2010. He played a repertoire of Chopin pieces to a sold-out
audience.
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