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LI PIANO ACADEMY
LI WANG
With many achievements at home and internationally, pianist Li Wang has earned the recognition as one of Canada's finest artists. At home in Canada, Li was the First Prize winner at the Canadian Chopin Competition in 1999, and he was also awarded the Best Mazurka and Best Polonaise Performance prizes. Li’s international achievements include: Second Prize and Best Concerto prize at the prestigious Dublin AXA International Piano Competition in 2003, and was greeted by Ireland’s president, Mary McAleese, at the award ceremony; First prize at the Brazil's Arts Livre Competition; Second Prize in the 9th Southern Missouri International Piano Competition; Third Prize in the 37th Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona. Li was also a Finalist at Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in Budapest, and a Semi-Finalist at the International Tchaikovsky Competition.
In performances, Li has been heard as soloist in Germany, France, Spain, United Kingdom, Netherland, Poland, Hungary, United States, Brazil, Japan, China, and Russia, in venues such as, the National Concert Hall of Ireland, Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Concert Hall of the Franz Liszt Music Academy, Konzerthaus Freiburg, and Boston’s Jordan Hall. Locally in Toronto, Li has been a frequent performing artist at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, the Glenn Gould Studio, and Mississauga Living Arts Center. Some of Li’s solo concert highlights include: an all-Chopin recital at the International Chopin Festival in Antonin, Poland; a recital at the Seventh International Great Romantics Festival in Hamilton - a special invitation appearance as a result of his electrifying performances at the Liszt Competition in Budapest; a Command Performance sponsored by the Canadian Embassy for Their Royal Highnesses, Prince and Princess Takamado, in Japan. Li has also been featured as concerto soloists with some of the world’s prestigious orchestras such as the RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the MATAV Hungarian Symphony Orchestra, the Sinfonia Cultura Orchestra of Brazil, and performed under the baton of Andras Ligeti, Jonathan McPhee, and Gerhard Markson. In Canada’s media, Li’s performances has been broadcasted on CBC, CJRT, Classical 96.3FM, and BRAVO! arts channel, OMNI TV, Fairchild TV, and CityTV.
As a dedicated music educator, and sought after piano pedagogue, Mr. Wang is currently piano faculty at both The Glenn Gould School and The Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists of The Royal Conservatory. He is also the co-founder of Li School of Music in Richmond Hill. Li’s students have won top 3 prizes in International Competitions such as the 11th International Frederic Chopin Competition for Young pianists 2018, Kaufman International Youth Piano Competition 2017, the Aarhus International Piano Competition 2017, the Midwest International Piano Competition 2016, and The American Protege International Music Competition. Li’s student are also repeated prizewinners in Canada’s National and Provincial Music Competitions such as the Canadian Chopin Competition, the Canadian Music Competition, the Federation of Canadian Music Festivals, CBC Radio’s Piano Hero Competition, the Kiwanis Music Festival Provincial Finals, and OMFA Provincial Finals. His students have been featured as soloists in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Toronto’s Koerner Hall, Toronto Centre for the Arts, Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, and Markham Theatre. A number of Li’s past piano students have been accepted by prestigious music institute at home and around the globe, such as the Glenn Gould Music School, and the Juilliard School. Additionally, Li is also one of the featured recording artists on the current (2015 edition) RCM Celebration Series CD albums used for the RCM Examinations; a recipient of the Steinway and Sons’ Top Teacher Award; adjudicator for Glenn Gould School; and has served as judge for Canada’s National Canadian Chopin Piano Competition.
Li was born in Beijing, China. He began his piano studies under his father, Yan-Qiao Wang, a composer of distinction in China (best known for his work the Red Ballet, and Pipa Concerto Heroic Little Sisters of the Grassland), and was accepted to study at the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music at the age of 6. His studies later continued in Japan under the renowned pedagogue Hiroko Edo, and in France at the Conservatoire de Paris, under tutelage of Brigitte Engerer. In the 1990s upon immigration to Canada, Li studied with James Anagnoson at the Glenn Gould School, one of Canada’s best known pianists and pedagogues, and whom has become Li’s lifelong mentor.
Quotes of Li Wang:
“Flawless technique combined with a light touch to produce the most exquisite tonal effects.” - Toronto Star
“Li was one of the few pianists to create that indefinable thing we call 'atmosphere', in which the pianist encloses the audience within his magic circle, casts his spell, and draws them into his dreams.” - Dr. Alan Walker, judge of the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition