GeorgeLi

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, George 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 the 2024-25 season, George can be heard across three continents, making debuts with the Philadelphia Orchestra at SPAC, Minnesota and Belgian National orchestras, in season opening chamber recital with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall, with the Hohhot Philharmonic and Xi’an Symphony orchestras in China, as well as the Charleston and Des Moines symphonies. Further engagements include returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Symphony Tacoma, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Pacific symphonies, as well as the Nordic Chamber Orchestra in Sweden to play-lead Mozart’s 23rd Piano Concerto and Beethoven’s 5th Piano Concerto. In recital, George will appear in Montreal, Singapore, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Recent concerto highlights include performances with the New York, London, Rotterdam, Oslo, St. Petersburg, Buffalo Philharmonics; the San Francisco, Cleveland, Dallas, Tokyo, Frankfurt Radio, Sydney, Nashville, New Jersey, New World, North Carolina, Pacific, Valencia, Montreal, and Baltimore Symphonies; as well as the Prague Philharmonia, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester 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. Collaborations with the Mariinsky Orchestra have included performances at the Paris Philharmonie, Luxembourg Philharmonie, New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music, Graffenegg Festival, and in various venues throughout Russia.

In recital, George has 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, and he has made appearances at major festivals including the Edinburgh International Festival, Verbier Festival, Ravinia Festival, Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence Festival, and Montreux Festival. An active chamber musician, George has performed alongside Benjamin Beilman, Noah Bendix-Balgley, James Ehnes, Daniel Hope, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Kian Soltani, and the Dover and Brentano quartets.

George is an exclusive Warner Classics recording artist, releasing his most recent album with the label, Movements, featuring solo works by Schumann, Ravel, and Stravinsky, in summer 2024 to critical acclaim. He released his debut recital album, which was recorded live at the Mariinsky, in October 2017. He followed this release in October 2019 with an album of solo works by Liszt and Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1, which was recorded live with Vasily Petrenko and the London Philharmonic.

George gave his first public performance at Boston’s Steinway Hall at the age of ten, and in 2011 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 recipient of the 2012 Gilmore Young Artist Award, and the First Prize winner of the 2010 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. In 2019, George completed the Harvard/New England Conservatory dual degree program, with a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and a Master’s degree in Music studying with Wha Kyung Byun. He subsequently graduated with an Artist Diploma at New England Conservatory in 2022. When not playing piano, George is an avid reader and photographer, as well as a sports fanatic.