Qing Li

Praised for her musical versatility, violinist Qing Li brings great warmth, poise, and insight to her music making. Solo performances have garnered such critical praise as, “the highest level musically” (David Zinman), “unsurpassed technical brilliance” (Hohenlohe, a German newspaper), and “as the soloist, Qing was flawless… particularly in a stunning cadenza near the end of the first movement in the Haydn violin concerto. Her style was impeccable…” (Richmond Times, 2008). At the same time, she is a sought after chamber musician, having collaborated with such luminaries as Pinchas Zukerman, Hilary Hahn, and Leon Fleischer. She is currently the BSO’s Principal Second Violin, appointed by Yuri Temirkanov.

Qing Li was born in Beijing China. At age four, she began violin studies with her father Zhen-Kun Li. At age 12, Qing Li won her acceptance to the Central Conservatory. There, she was discovered at a master class by Berl Senofsky, who enthusiastically brought her to Peabody Conservatory with a fellowship scholarship. She won fellowships in this country’s most major music festival programs including Tanglewood, Meadowmount, Aspen, Grand Tetons, and Alexander Schneider’s New York String Seminar. Her teachers include Berl Senofsky, and the legendary Joseph Gingold. Her awards include the Marbury Violin Competition (1992, first prize) and the first Beijing International Violin Competition (1986, prizewinner), among others.

Qing Li joined the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 1993, won her current chair of Principal Second Violin in 2001 under Yuri Temirkanov, and has also served as the acting Assistant Concertmaster. She has frequently performed concerti with the BSO during her tenure with the orchestra. In November 2008, Ms. Li performed the Butterfly Lovers concerto at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. In 2005, Hilary Hahn invited Qing Li to play the Bach double concerto in a benefit concert to glowing reviews.

In 2012, Ms. Li was the guest concertmaster with the Iceland Symphony in Reykjavik. She has been a recitalist and chamber musician in halls throughout the great cities of America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Radio and television broadcasts of her work as soloist and chamber musician have been aired on WYPR, and were featured on the Voice of America.

As a teacher, she has taught at the University of Delaware. Ms. Li has also been invited frequently to teach and give master classes at the Central Conservatory of Music, in Beijing, and of their Orchestra Academy graduate program. In July 2012, She was on the faculty of The Festival Internacional de Inverno Campos do Jordao Winter Festival in Brazil . In September 2013, she was invited to play solo recital tours as one of the Piatigorsky Foundation artists.

Ms. Li performs on a Nicolo Gagliano violin, crafted in 1736, Naples.

As of: April 25, 2015