Li-Wei Qin

As one of the most important Chinese Australian cellists, Li-Wei Qin has appeared all over the world as a soloist and as a chamber musician. After achieving great success at the 11th Tchaikovsky International Competition where he was awarded the Silver Medal, Li-Wei has since won the First Prize in the prestigious 2001 Naumburg Competition in New York. “A superbly stylish, raptly intuitive performer” (Gramophone Magazine, January 2015) was the description of the cellist’s Elgar and Walton concerti recording with the London Philharmonic.

This year in Australia Li-Wei will be heard with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and in recital at both the Melbourne Recital Centre and Ukaria Cultural Centre.

Highlights in recent seasons include debuts with the London Symphony, Russian Philharmonic and Brussels Chamber Orchestras and return visits to the Finnish Radio Orchestra, China Philharmonic and West Australian Symphony Orchestras.

Twice a soloist at the BBC Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall, Li-Wei has enjoyed successful artistic collaborations with many of the world’s great orchestras including all the BBC symphony orchestras, Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, NDR Philharmonic Orchestra Hamburg, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, La Verdi Orchestra Milan, ORF Vienna Radio Orchestra , Prague Symphony, Osaka Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, China Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and Melbourne Symphony among many others. Leading conductors with whom he has worked include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Andrew Davis, Marek Janowski, Jaap Van Zweden, Gianandrea Noseda, Jan Pascal Tortelier, Hans Graf, Yu Long, Lv Jia, Tan Dun, the late Marcello Viotti, the late Jiri Belohlavek and the late Lord Menuhin. Li-Wei has also appeared with chamber orchestras such as the Kremerata Baltika, Sinfonia Vasovia, the Munich, the Manchester, the Zurich, the Australian Chamber Orchestras.

In recital and chamber music, Li-Wei is a regular guest at the Wigmore Hall and for the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, New York. He has appeared at the BBC Proms, the Rheinghau, the City of London, the Schleswigs-Holstein and the Mecklenburg Festivals. Li-Wei has collaborated with musicians such as Daniel Hope, Nabuko Imai, Misha Maisky, David Finckel, Wu Han, Vladimir Mendelssohn and Peter Frankel among many others.

Li-Wei’s recordings on Universal Music/Decca include the complete Beethoven Sonatas, Works of Rachmaninov with pianist Albert Tiu, Dvořàk Concerto with Singapore Symphony Orchestra and conductor Lan Shui and Elgar/Walton Concerti with the London Philharmonic. Most recently, courtesy of Universal Music, Li-Wei’s 2013 live concert with the Shanghai Symphony and Maestro Yu Long has been released on Sony Classical.

Born in Shanghai Li-Wei moved to Australia at the age of 13, before accepting scholarships to study with Ralph Kirshbaum at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester and with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. He was invited to join the BBC ‘New Generations’ scheme in 2001 and in 2002, Li-Wei received the Young Australian of the Year Award. Other major invitations included appearances at both the 2008 Beijing Olympics (New Zealand Symphony), 2012 London Olympics and the Davos World Economics Forum (Basel Symphony Orchestra). Most recently, at the Opening Ceremony of the 2017 Fortune Global Forum, China.

He teaches at the YST Conservatory, Singapore and is guest professor at Shanghai and Central Conservatory of Music, China and visiting professor, Chamber music, at the Royal Northern College of Music. Li-Wei plays a 1780 Joseph Guadagnini cello, generously loaned by Dr and Mrs Wilson Goh.