— About —
Zhenni Li-Cohen’s riveting presence and passionate performances have brought audiences to their feet around the world. Hailed for her “torrents of voluptuous sound...Li-Cohen impresses as an artist of tremendous conviction, who fascinates even as she provokes“ by Gramophone Magazine, “a thrillingly good pianist” by The New Yorker and for her "...big, gorgeous tone and a mesmerizing touch" by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Ms. Li-Cohen has performed in such notable venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and WQXR’s Greene Space in New York, the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia’s Kimmel Performing Arts Center, San Jose’s California Theater, the Helsinki Music Center in Finland, the Grieghallen in Norway and the Berliner Philharmonie in Germany.
Upcoming engagements include concerti appearances with the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway, Bucks County, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Dominican Republic National Orchestra, Fairbanks, Johns Hopkins, Lower Merion, Knoxville, Waterloo-Cedar Fall Symphony Orchestras. Deeply committed to the art of recording, Ms. Li-Cohen is passionate about memorializing lesser known works and sharing them with a greater audience as well as traversing the heights of the familiar giants of the repertoire and recently released her second album for the Steinway & Sons label featuring works by Sergei Bortkiewicz (A Letter), reviewed by Gramophone Magazine as “the most consistently beautiful Bortkiewicz recording in the catalogue” and “a must-add to your listening list” by American Record Guide; her third and fourth albums featuring Beethoven (Beethoven’s Apotheosis), and traditional Chinese works (Legend of the Phoenix Queen) are upcoming, in addition to a recording project with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra with Marin Alsop.
Her difficult early years did not portend a remarkable career. After a year of study with her childhood teacher, she was rejected for lack of talent at the ripe old age of seven years. Intuiting her passion and promise, her father took charge of her music education, learning the piano himself in the process. Eventually, at age eleven, she moved away from home to continue her piano studies while her parents remained behind, working to support her education. Alone in her rental apartment, she spent her free time expressing her emotions through the piano and reading books endlessly. Music was her only refuge, and her prowess soared, until at age sixteen, she emigrated to the United States and was accepted to study at the Juilliard School shortly thereafter, earning Bachelors and Masters degrees in piano performance. She spent her summers in France, leading to a great love and appreciation for French music, particularly that of Claude Debussy, whose Préludes were eventually the subject of her dissertation. After further studies at Yale School of Music, she pursued her Doctoral degree at McGill University in Montréal and began concertizing in earnest, earning worldwide recognition as the winner of the 2017 New York Concert Artists Worldwide Debut Audition, Astral Artist’s 2016 National Auditions, the Grieg International Competition in Norway, and the unanimous 1st Prize at the Concours Musical de France. Her performances have been broadcast internationally on Canada National CBC Radio, Chicago’s WFMT Public Radio, Iowa Public Radio, New York’s WQXR, Norwegian National Radio: NPK P2/NPK Klassisk, Philadelphia’s WWFM and WRTI, Texas Public Radio, and West Virginia’s WVTF. Ms. Li-Cohen is currently the Associate Professor of Piano at University of Alberta.
In addition to her solo career, she is a deeply devoted chamber musician. She has collaborated with members of the Aeolus, Borromeo, Jasper, Hugo Wolf, and New Orford quartets and has performed at numerous chamber music festivals including Classical Bridge, Fontainebleau Festival, Kneisel Hall, Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival, Music@Menlo, and Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute. Her passion for chamber music led her to co-found ”Fishin' in C Chamber Music Series”, a diverse chamber concert series in Philadelphia with the aim of bringing music to underserved areas and “Opus 71 Concerts”, a multidisciplinary concert series near New York’s Lincoln Center.
She is immensely grateful to be able to count among her artistic influences many incredible teachers and mentors, including Peter Frankl, Richard Goode, Joseph Kalichstein, Stéphane Lemelin, Seymour Lipkin, Robert McDonald, Mark Salman, and Craig Sheppard, and Vera Wilson. In her spare time, she enjoys learning new languages, looking forward to becoming pentalingual, and traveling and meeting people of different cultures. Ms. Li-Cohen now lives in Manhattan with her husband and two cats, Monkey and Mumu.
Zhenni Li-Cohen is a Steinway Artist.
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“Zhenni Li’s new Steinway release is a bolt from the blue....Her beautiful sound is captured in full dimension and depth in this expertly engineered recording. Li leaves no detail of Schumann’s F sharp minor Sonata unattended. The minute scrutiny brought to every element of the score would, in other hands, fragment and shatter the piece. Yet somehow, by dint of passionate identification and sheer force of will, Li pulls it off. Her extravagant and pervasive rubato, which occasionally risks derailing everything she sets in motion, strikes nonetheless as so heartfelt and intrinsic to her emotional response to the music as to be indisputable. There are moments when you wish for more than just a few consecutive measures of steady pulse, but then Li’s torrents of voluptuous sound sweep away any reservation....Li impresses as an artist of tremendous conviction, who fascinates even as she provokes.”
– Gramophone Magazine
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“…a thrillingly good pianist” - The New Yorker
“Zhenni Li…with a big, gorgeous tone and a mesmerizing touch” - The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Li is an extremely expressive artist. She understands not merely the notes on the page but how they should progress, one following the other, to make coherent musical statements....she manages to ‘lead’ the ear to connect the phrasing and complete the musical structure. This is a very high level of artistry....She presents us with a sort of smoldering undercurrent that reaches deep inside the notes. It’s hard to explain; you just have to hear it....In her hands, [Schumann’s Piano Sonata No. 1] becomes almost like a fantasy in which the composer’s mind wanders through various moods and images, portrayed vividly by this gifted and imaginative artist....fascinating...an artist with a deep emotional commitment to the music she is playing.”
– The Art Music Lounge
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"Zhenni Li, a brilliant, sophisticated, and versatile master of piano…" – Helsingin Sanomat (Finland)
“Zhenni Li’s [Beethoven concert (no. 4)] was palpable: Full of fervor and strong expressivity. “ (Zhenni Li’s Beethoven-konsert (nr. 4) ble påtagelig: Full av inderlighet og sterk uttrykksvilje holdt hun på mye bedre på oppmerksomheten.) - Ballade Norwegian (Norway)
“Sensitivity, finesse of touch and musical intelligence” - Concours Clara Haskil (Switzerland)
“A magnetic pianist—with fire and poetry. Everyone should hear her” - David Dubal, Critic
"Zhenni Li found the quirky harmonic sensibility and strange beauty of Schumann with natural ease, with especially incisive drawing out of inner voices." - Broad Street Review
“Li recontextualizes [Schumann’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 11 and Bartók’s Two Elegies, Op. 8b] effectively. It's an impressive program, both accessible and highly original.”
– Allmusic
“ Li introduces us to this lush music with poetic phrasing and unassailable virtuosity.” - Fanfare Magazine
“Li is a real personality - she comes across as passionate, driven and resolute.” – Pianist Magazine
“Li-Cohen’s attention to expressive detail was stunning with melodic passages receiving an intense revealing of depth, and surprising twists and turns that kept the listener on the edge of his/her seat” - Arts Knoxville
“Li-Cohen has the skills necessary to bring it off: a fluent legato and a refined sense of rubato and phrasing, coupled with an ability to bring out the subtle harmonic surprises.. Add to this her tonal richness and her exquisite balance, and you have performances that will keep you enthralled...Li-Cohen’s may be the most consistently beautiful Bortkiewicz recording in the catalogue.” - © 2023 Gramophone Magazine
Li-Cohen has selected a wide range of pieces, covering the entire compositional career of Bortkiewicz.. it gives the listener a beautifully played overview of this rather neglected composer. Li-Cohen has all of the technical and musical expertise for this selection of beautiful pieces. She can spin the softest legato phrase or build to exciting climaxes. The detailed inner voices are nicely balanced with the melodies. This is a must-add to your listening list..” - © 2023 American Record Guide