Bihan Li
Violin & Viola Faculty
Chinese violinist and Juilliard alumna Bihan Li has made her mark on the world stage as a soloist, concertmaster, and chamber musician. Her talent has been lauded with top honors at international competitions. Notably, she has graced venues like Carnegie Hall and the United Nations Headquarters as well as Fontainebleau Castle with her performances, and she has been a part of prestigious collaborations, including with Yuja Wang, Joan Tower, Jaime Laredo, Zhou Long, etc.
Bihan’s chamber music expertise is highlighted by her Prix Ravel award and the prize for the Best Interpretation of the Ravel Quartet granted by Fontainebleau Castle and Fondation Maurice Ravel in 2018, and she has been a driving force in acclaimed quartet performances. Recent chamber projects include appearances featuring female composer works at Lake George Music Festival, and world premieres of eastern and western fusion works at Red Ball Art Festival located at World Trade Center as well as artist-in-residence at Camphill Kimberton Hills Chamber Music Residency. In 2019, she joined Dawn Upshaw’s concert at National Sawdust as a collaborative violinist, premiering composer Susan Botti’s Italian Folk Songs. In 2016, she was featured in a Mendelssohn Octet performance with her colleagues at the National Theatre of Cuba.
Her orchestral leadership was showcased during her tenure as concertmaster with NYO-China in 2017 at Carnegie Hall under the baton of Ludovic Morlot. The same year, Bihan was appointed as the concertmaster of the Bard Conservatory Orchestra under Maestros Leon Botstein and Jean-Marie Zeitouni. In 2019, she joined New York String Orchestra Seminar under maestro Jaime Laredo and the Juilliard Orchestra under maestros Jeffrey Milarsky and David Robertson. Recent highlights include guest concertmaster appearance with Alaska Symphony Concertmaster and performing with Pegasus: The Orchestra and Cayuga Chamber Orchestra.
In the realm of music education, Bihan is as passionate about teaching as she is about performing, having served as a jury member for several international music competitions, including Forte International Music Competition and Festivals in New York, Mimas Music Festival Violin Competition in Italy, Jean Sibelius International Online Instrumental Music Competition in Finland, and Music & Stars Awards in Europe.
Bihan holds a Master of Music Degree from the Juilliard School under the tutelage of violinist Ronald Copes, the second violin in the Juilliard Quartet. She completed her double degrees in Violin Performance and Asian Studies as a full-ride scholarship recipient at Bard Conservatory of music, studying with Weigang Li and Laurie Smukler. Currently a doctoral candidate at the Manhattan School of Music, she is under the tutelage of Nicholas Mann, honing her craft further. Bihan Li continues to inspire as a performer and educator, embodying the spirit of classical music excellence.