Li-Wei Qin (; born 16 February 1976) is a

Chinese-Australian Chinese Australians () are Australians of Chinese origin. Chinese Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Chinese diaspora, and are the largest Asian Australian community. Per capita, Australia has more people of Chines ...

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

. He won the Silver Medal at the 11th

International Tchaikovsky Competition The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of ...

in 1998, and First Prize at the 2001

International Naumburg Competition The Walter W. Naumburg Foundation sponsors competitions and provides awards for young European classical music, classical musicians in North America. Founded in 1925, it operates the prestigious Naumburg Competition. Foundation and concerts It ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Early life and education

Born in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, Qin and his family moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

when he was thirteen years of age. He began learning the cello with his father, Qin Qing, a former principal cellist of the

Shanghai Symphony Orchestra The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra () is a symphony orchestra in Shanghai, China. Its music director is Long Yu. Founded in 1879, the SSO is the oldest List of symphony orchestras#China, Chinese symphony orchestra. Originally, it was known as the ...

, and later studied with Nelson Cooke. Following a year of commerce studies at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, he accepted scholarships to study with

Ralph Kirshbaum Ralph Henry Kirshbaum (born March 4, 1946) is an American cellist. His award-winning career combines the worlds of solo performance, chamber music, recording and pedagogy. Early life and education Kirshbaum was born in Denton, Texas, and raised ...

at the

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and with David Takeno at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Career

In 1993, Qin was named the ABC Young Performer of the Year. In 1997, he won both the Adam International Cello Competition in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition. He then came to international attention as the Silver Medalist of the 1998

, and the winner of the 2001

. He joined the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme in 2001. Qin has collaborated with many of the world’s top orchestras including the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The ...

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (''Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin'') is a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin. In Berlin, the orchestra gives concerts at the Konzerthaus Berlin and at the Berliner Philharmonie. The orchestra has al ...

, NDR-Sinfonieorchester Hamburg,

Konzerthausorchester Berlin The Konzerthausorchester Berlin is a German Orchestra, symphony orchestra based in Berlin. The orchestra is resident at the Konzerthaus Berlin, designed by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The building was destroyed during World War II, and ...

Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra The Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (German: ''ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien'', or RSO Wien) is the orchestra of the Austrian national broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF). Unlike most other Austrian orchestras, the RSO Wien has a sub ...

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Finnish: ''Radion sinfoniaorkesteri'', Swedish: ''Radions symfoniorkester''; abbreviated as RSO) is a Finnish Radio orchestra, broadcast orchestra based in Helsinki, and the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasti ...

Prague Symphony Orchestra The Prague Symphony Orchestra ( ''FOK'') is a Czech orchestra based in Prague. The orchestra has traditionally been known by the acronym 'FOK', standing for 'Film-Opera-Koncert', reflecting the orchestra's fields of activity as envisioned by its fo ...

Osaka Philharmonic The is a Japanese symphony orchestra based in Osaka, Japan. Founded in 1947 as the Kansai Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra took the name of the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra in 1960, and in 2014, formally assumed the official name of the Osaka P ...

Hong Kong Philharmonic The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra () is a symphony orchestra based in Hong Kong. Colloquially referred to as the HKPO or HKPhil (), the orchestra was first established in 1947 as an amateur orchestra under the name Sino-British Orchestra (), ...

China Philharmonic The China Philharmonic Orchestra (; abbreviated CPO) is an orchestra founded in Beijing, China, on May 25, 2000, based on the previous China Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra. It is a division of the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Telev ...

Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney. With roots going back to 1908, the orchestra was made a permanent professional orchestra on the formation of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932. ...

and the

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an Australian orchestra based in Melbourne. The MSO is resident at Hamer Hall. The MSO has its own choir, the MSO Chorus, following integration with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008. The MSO relies on fun ...

among many others. He has also appeared with ensembles such as

Kremerata Baltica Kremerata Baltica is a chamber orchestra consisting of musicians from Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). It was founded by Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer in 1997. Gidon Kremer is an artistic director of Kremerata Baltica. Descript ...

Sinfonia Varsovia The Sinfonia Varsovia is a Polish orchestra and musical institution based in Warsaw. The orchestra gives its concerts principally at its eponymous institution, located on Grochowska Street, Warsaw. History Waldemar Dąbrowski and Franciszek W ...

, the

Munich Chamber Orchestra The Munich Chamber Orchestra (, or MKO) is a German chamber orchestra based in Munich. Its primary concert venue is the Prinzregententheater, Munich. The MKO also gives concerts in Munich at such venues as the Pinakothek der Moderne and the ', an ...

Zürich Chamber Orchestra The Zurich Chamber Orchestra (Zürcher Kammerorchester; ZKO, German abbreviation) is a Swiss chamber orchestra based in Zurich. The ZKO's principal concert venue in Zurich is the Tonhalle. The ZKO also performs in Zurich at the Schauspielhaus Zü ...

, and the

Australian Chamber Orchestra The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) is an Australian orchestra focused on chamber music based in Sydney. History The Australian Chamber Orchestra was founded by cellist John Painter in 1975.Verghis, Sharon"Bach with more bite pays off" ''T ...

. As a recitalist and chamber musician, Qin has regularly performed at

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

and for

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is an American organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music in New York City and around the world. It is the largest organization of its kind in the country for chamber m ...

. He has also appeared at the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

Rheingau Musik Festival The (RMF) is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres. Concerts take place at culturally important locations, such as Eberbach Abbey and Schloss Johannisberg, ...

Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival The Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (SHMF) is a classical music festival held each summer throughout the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany. History The festival was founded in 1986 by German concert pianist and conductor Justus Fr ...

and the

City of London Festival The City of London Festival was an annual arts festival that took place in the City of London, England, over two to three weeks in June and July. The Festival was strongly geared towards classical music, but also offered a programme that included ...

. Musicians with whom he has collaborated with include Daniel Hope,

Nobuko Imai is a renowned Japanese classical violist with an extensive career as soloist and chamber musician. Since 1988 she has played a 1690 Andrea Guarneri instrument. Biography Born in Tokyo, Imai began her musical training at the age of six. She b ...

Mischa Maisky Mischa Maisky (, , ; born 10 January 1948) is a Soviet-born Israeli cellist. Biography Mischa Maisky was born in 1948 in Riga and is the younger brother of organist, harpsichordist and musicologist Valery Maisky (1942–1981). He was taught by ...

David Finckel David Finckel (born December 6, 1951) is an American cellist and influential figure in the classical music world. The cellist for the Emerson String Quartet from 1979 to 2013, Finckel is currently the co-artistic director of the Chamber Music So ...

, Wu Han,

Lü Siqing Lü Siqing (; born 26 November 1969) is a Chinese violinist. He was the first Asian violinist to win the first prize at the Paganini Competition in 1987. Biography Lü was born in 1969 in Qingdao, Shandong, China. As a child he was taught by t ...

and

Peter Frankl Peter Frankl (born 2 October 1935) is a Hungarian-born British pianist. He mainly performs music from the Classical period (particularly Mozart), the Romantic period and the early Modern period. His recordings include the complete solo piano m ...

. Qin is currently a professor at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

’s

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music The Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YST Conservatory), a school of the National University of Singapore, is Singapore's first conservatory of music located at Conservatory Drive off Kent Ridge Crescent. Primarily an undergraduate institutio ...

, and a guest professor at both the

Central Conservatory of Music The Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM; ) is the national music academy of China, located in Beijing. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education. The academy is part of Project 211 and the Double First-Class Construction. Overview Fo ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

and the

Shanghai Conservatory of Music The Shanghai Conservatory of Music (SHCMusic) is a municipal public college in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the City of Shanghai and is part of the Double First-Class Construction. The college was founded on November 27, 1927. The Sh ...

. He was previously on the faculty at the

Discography

* ''Elgar: Cello Concerto; Sea Pictures'' with the

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is a South Australian orchestra based in Adelaide, established in 1936. The orchestra's primary performance venue is the Adelaide Town Hall, but the ASO also performs in other venues. It provides the orchest ...

and Nicholas Braithwaite (

ABC Classics ABC Music is Australia's largest independent record label. It operates under the ABC Commercial division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It covers a wide range of music genres, including classical, children’s and adult conte ...

, 2005) * ''Alone – Works for Solo Cello'' (Cello Classics, 2009) * ''Beethoven: The Cello Sonatas'' with Albert Tiu (

Decca Classics Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

, 2010) * ''Dvořák: Cello Concerto; Silent Woods'' with the

Singapore Symphony Orchestra The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Singapore. Its principal concert venue is the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. The orchestra also gives concerts at the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, and performs ...

and Lan Shui (Decca Classics, 2012) * ''Rachmaninov – Works for Cello and Piano'' with Albert Tiu (Decca Classics, 2012) * ''Ross Harris: Symphony No. 4 & Cello Concerto'' with the

Auckland Philharmonia The Auckland Philharmonia (formerly Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, APO) is a symphony orchestra based in Auckland, New Zealand. Its principal concert venue is the Auckland Town Hall, and it is also the accompanying ensemble for Auckland stage ...

and

Garry Walker Garry Walker (born 1974, Edinburgh) is a Scottish conductor. Biography Walker received his secondary school education at St Mary's Music School. His initial musical training was as a cellist, and he subsequently played cello in the Edinburg ...

(Naxos, 2014) * ''DUO'' with Ning Feng (Decca Classics, 2014) * ''Elgar & Walton: Cello Concertos'' with the

and Zhang Yi (Decca Classics/ABC Classics, 2014) * ''Wenchen Qin: Violin & Cello Concertos'' with the

and Gottfried Rabl (Naxos, 2017) * ''Russian Cello Concertos'' with the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra and

Michael Halász Michael Halász (born 21 May 1938 in Cluj) is a German-Hungarian classical conductor. Halász began his musical career as principal bassoonist with the Philharmonia Hungarica in Vienna. After eight years in that position, he studied conducting ...

(Naxos, 2019)

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

are presented annually from 1987 by the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

(ARIA). ! , - ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, ''Beethoven Cello Sonatas'' ,

Best Classical Album The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as t ...

, , ARIA Award previous winners. , -

References

External links

*
Li-Wei Qin – Yong Siew Toh Conservatory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qin, Li-Wei 1976 births Living people 21st-century Australian male musicians 21st-century classical musicians Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Alumni of the Royal Northern College of Music Australian cellists Australian classical musicians Chinese emigrants to Australia Musicians from Shanghai Prize-winners of the International Tchaikovsky Competition