Vivian Li 李穗荣
Born into a family of artists, Chinese-Canadian pianist Dr. Vivian Sui-Rong Li began her career at the age of five with her debut at Guangzhou’s Friendship Opera House and has gone on to steadily build a career as one of China’s most respected young musicians. She currently serves as Associate Professor of Piano at Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, China.
Dr. Li began her studies at the age of four under the tutelage of her father, renowned Chinese pianist Qi Li and supervision of her mother, renowned Chinese classical ballerina Xianping Su. After a period of study at Xinghai Conservatory’s Affiliated Middle School, Dr. Li immigrated to Toronto, Canada where she completed high school and her Artist Diploma from Canada’s Royal Conservatory of Music. Following this, she was accepted with full scholarship to Oberlin Conservatory where she did her undergraduate studies with the esteemed French pianist, Monique Duphil, herself a student of Marguerite Long. Upon graduation, she was awarded Oberlin’s prestigious William R. Abate Outstanding Pianist Award given to the finest pianist of each graduating class. She proceeded to finish her studies with Master and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at the University of Houston under the guidance of Horacio Gutierrez and Nancy Weems. During her school years, Vivian distinguished herself in numerous competitions including prizes in Canada’s CMC International Stepping Stone Competition, the Grace Welsh International Piano Competition and San Antonio International Competition and in concerts including one performance of Ravel’s G major piano concerto which left the revered pianist Abbey Simon exclaiming, “She played like my friends of the old generation past.”
In 2005, Dr. Li returned to her childhood home of Guangzhou to join the piano faculty of Xinghai Conservatory. Her students routinely go on to study in major conservatories across the world and take top prizes in important competitions nationwide and abroad. In the past few years, Vivian’s students have distinguished themselves in major international competition such as Hamamatsu, Cleveland and Cliburn Junior while taking top prizes at Gina Bachauer, e-Piano Junior, Beijing Chopin, Zhuhai Mozart, Ettlingen, Sendai and Aarhus. Most recently in October 2021, Vivian’s longtime student, the 17 years old Hao Rao became the only Chinese pianist among the finalists of the 18th Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw, gaining international acknowledgement.
Dr. Li maintains an active concert schedule of solo, chamber and concerto performances both in China and abroad. She is also regular guest faculty at Italy’s Maccagno Piano Days Festival and Todi Music Masters Piano Festival, Beijing Central Conservatory International Chamber Music Festival, Oberlin Piano Festival, Germany’s Gegen den Strom Piano Academy and Malta Classic Music Academy.
Jay Sun 孙鹏杰
Born in Taiwan, raised and educated in the United States, and now in his early forties, Jay Sun has firmly established himself at the forefront of China’s musical scene since joining the faculty of Guangzhou’s Xinghai Conservatory two decades ago. He is highly sought after as a pianist and pedagogue, with hundreds of concerts and lectures in every major Chinese city and his students present and past having taken prizes at Cleveland, Hilton Head, E-Piano, Geneva, Weimar-Liszt, Michelangeli, Sendai, Saint Cecilia, Ettlingen, Zhuhai Mozart and distinguishments at Cliburn, Chopin, Busoni, Hamamatsu, Sydney, Paderewski, and more.
Sun is especially devoted to the cultivation of young talent and has written extensively as a regular columnist for China’s “Piano Artistry” and “Music Weekly” on the development of young pianists with a special focus on the systematic training of piano technique, science of tone production, and efficient practice methodology. He is currently co-chair of the piano department at Xinghai Conservatory Middle School, director of piano at the International College of Xinghai as well as a member of the Morningside Music Bridge advisory council.