Ying Li: Bach, Liszt, Beach, Stravinsky, Chen

5 PM Doors & Pre-Reception
6 PM Performance
8 PM Post-Reception

Ying Li: Bach, Liszt, Beach, Stravinsky, Chen

Gotham Arts in collaboration with Groupmuse is delighted to present an intimate solo recital by pianist Ying Li featuring works by Bach, Liszt, Amy Beach, Stravinsky, and contemporary composer Qigang Chen.

Wine will be served.

Program

BACH-BUSONI Chaconne from Solo Violin Partita No. 2 in d minor, BWV 1004

AMY BEACH Four Sketches, Op. 15
1. In Autumn
2. Phantoms
3. Dreaming
4. Fireflies

STRAVINSKY-AGOSTI Firebird Suite

Intermission

QIGANG CHEN (b. 1951) Instants d'un opéra de Pékin

LISZT Réminiscences de Norma de Bellini — Grande fantaisie, S. 394

About the Artist

Watch Ying perform Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major at Carnegie Hall

Praised by Cleveland Classical as "graceful and lyrical", Chinese pianist Ying Li has emerged as a distinctive international artist, performing across major stages in the United States and Europe. In 2025, she won the New York Franz Liszt International Piano Competition at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium. Her other major distinctions include the Premio Internazionale Antonio Mormone in Italy and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York, along with first prizes at the Sarasota Artist Series Piano Competition, the Brevard Music Festival solo and concerto competitions, and the International Liszt Piano Competition for Young Pianists in Moscow.

Ying has appeared at many of the world’s distinguished concert venues, including Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium and Zankel Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Konzerthaus Berlin, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Liederhalle in Stuttgart, and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia.

In the United States, Ying has appeared from coast to coast with orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Eugene Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and the Brevard Music Festival Orchestra. In January 2026, she stepped in on short notice for a four-concert subscription weekend with the Oregon Symphony and music director David Danzmayr, performing Grieg’s Piano Concerto. The acclaimed opening-night performance led to an immediate return invitation from Portland Piano International, where she will appear in recital during the 2026–27 season.

Ying has also cultivated a distinctive and increasingly prominent European profile alongside her U.S. career. Since making her European orchestral debut on tour with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie in 2021, she has appeared with leading ensembles across Germany and Italy, including the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, Dortmunder Philharmoniker, Nürnberger Symphoniker, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI in Turin, and Orchestra da Camera di Mantova. These engagements have led to continuing relationships in Europe, including return appearances with the Nürnberger Symphoniker in 2026–27 and the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker in 2027–28.

Her debut album, featuring works by Mozart and Bartók, was released by Universal Music/Decca in the 2022–23 season.

Beyond her solo career, Ying is deeply committed to chamber music and education. She is a founding member of the AYA Piano Trio, formed at the Curtis Institute of Music, and has appeared at festivals including the Verbier Festival, Ravinia, La Jolla SummerFest, and the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival. As a passionate educator, she has given masterclasses and coachings at the State College of Florida, the University of Southern Mississippi, the University of South Carolina, Hamilton College, and The Juilliard School’s Extension Division Summer Symposium. At the heart of this work is her belief in music as a universal language and a way of meeting people where they are—inviting curiosity in young listeners, creating connection across generations and backgrounds, and offering moments of recognition, peace, and joy through shared musical experience.

Ying began her piano studies at age five in China and attended the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing before moving to Philadelphia at 14 to study at the Curtis Institute of Music with Seymour Lipkin and Jonathan Biss. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Curtis and her Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Robert McDonald. She later received Juilliard’s prestigious Artist Diploma as the only pianist in her graduating class and is currently a doctoral candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York.

What's the music?

Ying Li