Core Musicianship Teacher at the Yehudi Menuhin School Qingdao

Bachelor of Music, Mannes School of Music

Master of Music, Shepherd School of Music, Rice University

Jiaying Li, Chinese composer and pianist, was born and raised in Guangdong. She earned her Master’s degree in Composition from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University with a full scholarship, graduating with straight A’s. She ha studied with professors such as Huang Ruo, Katherine Balch, Pierre Jalbert, and Kurt Stallmann.

Her music blends instrumental microsonorities with the language of electronic music, encompassing solo, chamber, orchestral, and film music. Her works have been performed by leading international ensembles such as the MIVOS Quartet, JACK Quartet, Ensemble Modern, and Sandbox Percussion, and have been featured on prestigious stages including Carnegie Hall, Royal Danish Academy of Music, etc.

In 2022, her symphonic work A Truce Within received the Martinů Prize and was premiered by the Mannes Orchestra. In 2024, she was awarded the Musiqa Catalyst Award and commissioned to compose a woodwind quintet, and premiered in Houston in 2025.

Equally active in music education, from 2022 to 2025, she founded and directed a bilingual online studio, designing her own curricula to explain advanced theory in cross-cultural contexts. Through this work, she has guided hundreds of Chinese students to successfully pass entrance exams in music theory for more than twenty American conservatories.

Her music reflects a deep engagement with Eastern aesthetics and a keen exploration of contemporary sonic languages, aiming to create a meaningful dialogue between Eastern and Western cultural contexts. Having studied piano from the age of five, she showed an early sensitivity and talent for sound and music. In 2012, she entered the six-year composition program at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music Affiliated High School, and later continued her studies at Mannes School of Music and Rice University. In both composition and performance, she continues to explore the boundaries of sound and narrative, connecting diverse arts and audiences with a unique perspective.