By Victor Chen, bostonese.com
Paris, Dec. 19, 2014, — George Li, a Harvard student and resident of Lexington, Mass, has won the first prize of the XIVe CONCOURS INTERNATIONAL “GRAND PRIX ANIMATO 2014” PARIS. In addition, George has also won the Special Schumann Prize, the Special Brahms Prize and the Audience Prize.
In addition to the 15,000 Euro prize money for winning GRAND PRIX ANIMATO 2014, George is invited to perform in the Louvre museum in Paris in January 2016. George also won the second prize for the Vendome Prize last summer.
George Li is one of the most talented young pianists in the U.S.. Praised by the Washington Post for combining “staggering technical prowess, a sense of command and depth of expression,” 18-year-old pianist George Li possesses brilliant virtuosity and effortless grace far beyond his years. In 2012 alone, Mr. Li won the Gilmore Young Artist Award and received the Tabor Foundation Piano Award at the Verbier Academy.
First Prize Winner in the 2010 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Mr. Li’s highly acclaimed New York debut at 16 opened the 51st Young Concert Artists Series at Merkin Concert Hall. YCA also presented his debut in Washington DC at the Kennedy Center, both to rave reviews. Mr. Li has appeared in recitals at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, and the Gilmore Rising Star Series, the Vancouver Recital Society, Music Toronto, at Shriver Hall and the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, among others.
As First Prize winner of the inaugural Cooper International Piano Competition, Mr. Li appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra. He has also performed as soloist with orchestras worldwide, including the Spartanburg Philharmonic, the Akron Symphony, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra in Venezuela (Gustavo Dudamel being its former conductor). Mr. Li rounded off the 2012-2013 season with a brilliant performance of Schumann Piano Concert in A minor with the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra at Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
In June 2011, George Li performed for President Obama at the White House in an evening honoring Chancellor Angela Merkel. He received thank-you letter from Mr. and Mrs. Obama later that year.
George Li has performed for members of US Congress at the Senate Office Building in Washington, DC. Mr. Li also performed as guest artist at the famous TV shows, such as the Martha Stewart, and Liz Walker Show and performed at “Drive Time Live with Cathy Fuller” on Classical New England 99.5 FM in Boston.
George Li is a student at the dual degree program of Harvard/NEC and studies piano with Wha Kyung Byun. Additionally, Mr. Li has had master classes with numerous distinguished artists, such as Dimitri Bashkirov, Menahem Pressler, Gábor Takács-Nagy, and Alfred Brendel.