Li-Wei Qin

An exclusive Universal Music China Artist, Li-Wei Qin has appeared worldwide as a soloist and as a chamber musician. After being awarded the Silver Medal at the 11th Tchaikovsky International Competition, Li-Wei won First Prize in the prestigious 2001 Naumburg Competition in New York.

Two times soloist at the BBC Proms in Lond’s Royal Albert Hall, Li-Wei has enjoyed successful artistic collaborations with the London, Los Angeles, BBC, and HK Philharmonic Orchestras, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester and Konzerthausorchester Berlin, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, La Verdi Orchestra Milan and BBC Symphony; the Los Angeles, Kremerata Baltika, the Munich, Zurich, and Australian chamber orchestras; and at the Wigmore Hall, BBC Proms, Jerusalem, Rheingau and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Music Festivals, and the Lincoln Centre Chamber Music Society, New York, with musicians including Daniel Hope, Nabuko Imai, Mischa Maisky, David Finckel, Wu Han and Peter Frankel.

In the 2017/18 season, Li-Wei makes his debut with the Russian Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Brussels Chamber Orchestra, and a North American tour with the China National Symphony Orchestra.

He has recordings on Universal Music/Decca with Singapore Symphony, on Sony Classical (courtesy of Universal Music) with Shanghai Symphony, and on ABC Classics with London Philharmonic Orchestra.

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, and with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was invited to join the BBC ‘New Generations’ scheme in 2001, and in 2002 received the Young Australian of the Year Award. Other major invitations included appearances at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (New Zealand Symphony), 2012 London Olympics, Davos World Economics Forum (Basel Symphony Orchestra) and the 2018 Fortune Global Forum opening ceremony.

Li-Wei plays a 1780 Joseph Guadagnini cello, generously loaned by Dr and Mrs Wilson Goh.