Ming-Qiang Li

Who is Ming-Qiang Li?

Li Ming-Qiang - is a Chinese classical pianist. He studied under Alfred Wittenberg and Tatiana Kravchenko, and as a young pianist in the late 1950s and early 1960s won awards at several Eastern European music competitions: the Smetana Competition in Prague in 1957, the Enescu Competition in Bucharest in 1958, the International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1960. His recordings comprise pieces by the classics and romantics, as well as piano music by Chinese composers. During the Chinese Cultural Revolution Li Ming-Qiang was sent to a work farm and allegedly subjected to torture. Unfortunately, the Cultural Revolution marked the end of his career as a concert pianist, although studio recordings of his performances were made as late as 1982.

In 1984 Li Ming-Qiang became Vice President of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, a professor of piano, and Chairman of the Shanghai Piano Association. He served as a juror at many international piano competitions, among others those of Van Cliburn in Fort Worth, Enescu in Bucharest, Chopin in Warsaw, as well as in Sydney, Shanghai, Paris, Montreal, and Santander. In 1989 he relocated temporarily to the USA, where he held master classes at several music centers. In 1997 he moved to Hong Kong and became a professor in the Music and Arts Department at the Baptist University in Hong Kong. Despite his relatively short performing-career, Li Ming-Qiang is ranked among the influential contemporary classical pianists.