Li Biao

Central Conservatory Beijing

“The music of Li Biao like a surge overwhelmingly came at you,
and every corner of the music hall was immersed with his touching rhythm.”

— La Repubblica (Italy)

Li Biao, one of the few outstanding solo percussionists in the recent international music stage, won world acclaim as an exceptional solo percussionist in the contemporary era by virtue of his extraordinary musicality of the percussion instruments as well as his unique demeanor.

Born in Nanking, China, Li Biao began his musical studies at five years old. In 1982, he entered the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing to study percussion. In 1988, he was selected by the Chinese government as the first percussionist to study in Moscow at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Learning from V. Sniegerew, Li Biao graduated with a master degree of first honor. After winning the DAAD scholarship, Li continued his music education at the Munich Conservatory of Music in Germany with prof. Peter Sadlo and graduated with a Meisterklassendiplom.

As a talented soloist, Li is competent in performing an extensive range of musical work. Li Biao gave a great number of solo recitals during various music festivals, cooperated with renowned orchestras and chamber ensembles including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphoniker, the Verona Opera, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra National de Lyon, the Guilbenkian Orchestra, Philharmonie de Marseille, Franz List Chamber Orchestra, the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the NCPA Orchestra, the China National Symphony Orchestra, the China Philharmonic Orchestra, the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and many others around the world, working with leading conductors such as Mstislav Rostropovich, Christoph Eschenbach, Lawrence Foster, Jonathan Nott, to name a few. Li has performed concert in more than 70 countries.

Li Biao has been performing the percussion concerto repeatedly at “Achtung KlassikÄ – the most influential European classical music opinion program, recorded his percussion albums with renowned labels such as EMI and Teldec. He is the professor at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing from 2003 and Hochschule für Musik “Hanns-Eisler” in Berlin 2006. He is the first Asian percussionist who was offered the title of professor of the prestigious music institute in the world.

In 2008, Li Biao and his percussion group were invited to perform at the closing ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. From 2008 to 2009, Li Biao led his percussion group to hold a series of concerts in 12 cities in China. From April to May 2009, Li Biao delivered 22 concerts on a trans-era tour of eight European countries. In 2014, Li Biao with his percussion ensemble came to South America, a historic concert tour with 12 great successful concerts in six countries.

In 2008, Li Biao received the “National Spirit Achiever Award” from Mercedes-Benz, AMG and City Magazine. He was awarded the “Men of Taste and Success 2009” by Men’s Bazaar in 2009.

In 2010, Li Biao was invited as Music Director of the Mercedes-Benz International Music Festival and the International Percussion Festival at the China National Centre for the Performance Arts. In 2011, Li Biao began appearing on the stage as a conductor, working with many symphony orchestras in Europe and China.