Chinese pianist Jiarong Li is committed to continual artistic growth while maintaining sincerity in her music-making. Her work spans solo piano, collaborative piano, chamber music, and pedagogy.

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She recently completed her fellowship as Collaborative Piano Fellow and Coordinator at the Yale School of Music. Since 2025, she has served as a Staff Pianist at the Bowdoin International Music Festival. This summer, she is excited to join Chamber Music Northwest as a Young Artist Institute Collaborative Piano Fellow. She has previously spent summers as a Collaborative Piano Fellow at the Music Academy of the West and the Bowdoin International Music Festival, and served as Staff Accompanist for the Puerto Piano & Strings International Music Festival in 2023. In addition, she was a collaborative pianist for the 2023 Concours musical international de Montréal and performed with the winner of the 2023 Concert Artists Guild Auditions.

 

Alongside her extensive collaborative work, Jiarong continues to explore her individual voice through solo piano repertoire. She believes that repertoire chooses the artist. After graduating from New England Conservatory, where she studied with Bruce Brubaker, she kept learning solo piano works including Schubert’s last three piano sonatas and Bach’s Goldberg Variations. She is proud that she gave a complete performance of the Goldberg Variations at Manhattan School of Music.

 

Jiarong also values her chamber music experiences. She participated in the Toronto Summer Music Festival as a Chamber Music Institute Fellow and has been invited to the Grace Note Farm Chamber Music Festival for three consecutive summers. She has performed alongside with renowned artists including Andrew Wan, Joseph Špaček, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, Austin Hartman, Joseph Lin and Ani Kavafian.

 

She has been featured in numerous performances and concert series, including Chamber Music Live Presents at Queens College, the opening concert of the Modern Art Meets Chamber Music Series at Stride Arts Gallery, Metropolis Ensemble, and the Piano on Park Concert Series. She also regularly performs recitals for Sacred Music at Columbia University and appears at Grace Note Farm as an Artist-in-Residence.

 

Teaching is an important part of Jiarong’s musical life. She enjoys creating a supportive and encouraging environment where students can develop both as musicians and individuals. Her students have earned top prizes in competitions including the Little Mozarts Competition, American Protégé International Competition, Young Artist Music Competition, winning the chance to perform at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall.

 

Jiarong has received several awards, including winning the Oxford Philomusica Piano Festival and Summer Academy Competition, the New England Conservatory Honors Competition, where she performed Milton Babbitt’s Lagniappe in Jordan Hall. First Prize in the International Music Competition for Best Schubert Performance, and the Distinction Award at the Hong Kong–Asia Piano Open Competition. She was also a finalist in the New England Conservatory Piano Concerto Competition and the Golden Bell Music Competition in China, and a semi-finalist in the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts International Concerto Competition.

 

Currently, Jiarong is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Collaborative Piano at Manhattan School of Music, where she studies with John Forconi. She holds a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from New England Conservatory and a Bachelor of Music degree from Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where she was admitted with first-place honors. Her former teachers include Heasook Rhee, Pei-Shan Lee, Bruce Brubaker, Xiang Zou, Yang Hu, and Xianyu Ke.

 

In her free time, Jiarong enjoys running, hot yoga, and exploring thrift stores.