Biography

Praised for her “gritty, fiery and athletic” playing (The Daily Telegraph) and hailed as “a player of remarkable subtlety” (The Scottish Herald), Chenyin Li is internationally recognised as one of the most compelling pianists of her generation. A musician of striking versatility and conviction, she launched her career by winning the 6th Scottish International Piano Competition in Glasgow, going on to claim top prizes at the Campillos, Dudley, and European Beethoven Gold Medal competitions. Critics have lauded her interpretations for their individuality and integrity, with the National Business Review noting her ability to “invest the music with a new life.”

Chenyin’s extensive performing career has taken her to major venues across Europe, Asia, North America, and Oceania. She has appeared as soloist with leading orchestras including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, China Symphony Orchestra, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, and Regensburg Symphony Orchestra, under the batons of James Loughran, En Shao, Nanse Gum, Alexander Lazarev, and others. UK audiences have heard her at the Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Bridgewater Hall, and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, as well as at the Leeds, Xiamen International, Auckland International, Presteigne, Machynlleth and Ribble Valley festivals.

A prolific recording artist, Chenyin has contributed to nearly 90 CDs and dozens of video performances as the exclusive pianist for Pianist Magazine since 2011. Her discography includes Hommage à Debussy for the Genuin label as a Blüthner Artist, and a DVD from the Auckland International Piano Festival. She collaborates with composers like David Wallace for the upcoming 2026 release Cliff Edge, and Gramophone-nominated composer Rhian Samuel in her CD Fire and Water. Her performances have been broadcast across Spain, Ireland, New Zealand, China, and beyond.

Chenyin is currently a member of the piano faculty at the Junior Guildhall School. Recently, she expanded her artistic and academic profile by taking up the position of Distinguished Professor at the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China’s largest postgraduate institution, where she lectures on Western music and regularly performs and collaborates with students. She has been invited to give masterclasses at international piano festivals in the UK, New Zealand, and China, and has served as a jury member for the International Tchaikovsky Youth Competition and the Suzana Szöreny International Piano Duo Competition in Romania.

Chenyin received her early musical training at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, studying with Professors Zhong Hui and BiGang Chen, before winning a full scholarship to study with Tamas Vesmas at the University of Auckland. She later studied in London with Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she earned the Premier Prix, a Master’s Degree, and the Postgraduate Concert Recital Diploma. She was the first student at Guildhall to be awarded a Doctorate in Performance, and her thesis was published in 2010 by the academic publisher VDM as Memorisation: The Essential Guide for Pianists.

In 2025, Chenyin will return to China for recital appearances in Beijing and Hangzhou, and in October will serve on the jury of the Welsh International Piano Competition. Her upcoming recital programme is being constructed around Chopin’s Four Ballades.