#China piano prodigy professional

In September 2001, Li sought out pianist Arie Vardi as his mentor, and therefore left his parents' house to study in Hannover, Germany. Li was also given the 'Polonaise award' by the Chopin Society for his performance of a polonaise. At 18 years of age, Li was the youngest and the first Chinese winner in the competition's history. The First Prize is only granted to the top competitor whose performance has met the jury’s expectations. Li was the first competitor to be awarded the First Prize (the gold medal) in 15 years since Stanislav Bunin won it in 1985. In October 2000, selected by the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China to represent the country, Li participated in the XIV International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. He also won first place at the Gina Bachauer Young Artists International Piano Competition. The next year, he took Third Prize at the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition of Utrecht, as well as being a major winner in the China International Piano Competition. In 1998, he won the 1998 Missouri Southern International Piano Competition (Junior Division). In 1996, he won the Third Class Award in the tenth Hong Kong - Asia Piano Open Competition, the most competitive competition in Asia for international pianists.

In 1995, he was awarded first place at the Stravinsky International Youth Competition. He won the Children's Piano Competition in Beijing in 1994. Li has received top awards at various competitions. Li later studied under Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover in Hannover, Germany, from 2001 to 2006. In 1994, when Mr Dan accepted a job offer from Shenzhen Arts School (Shenzhen, China), Li followed him there to continue his study with him until his triumph at the 2000 International Chopin Piano Competition.

#China piano prodigy professional

Li's ambition was to become a professional pianist. Two years later, Mr Wu introduced him to Dan Zhaoyi, one of China's most renowned piano educators, with whom he would study for nine years. Li began studying piano with Wu Yong at the age of seven. Studying with Tan Jianmin, a local music teacher, Li mastered the instrument so quickly that he won the top prize at the Chongqing Children's Accordion Competition in March 1987. His parents then bought him an accordion.

At age three, he was so enchanted by an accordion performance at a shopping mall that he refused to leave. Despite coming from a family without professional musicians, Li began having formal music education at a very young age. Both his father, Li Chuan, and his mother, Zhang Xiaolu, worked for the Chongqing Iron and Steel Company. Li's discography started with the piano works of Chopin and Liszt. Li is best known for being the youngest pianist, at the age of 18 in 2000, to win the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2015 he also served as its youngest-ever juror. Li Yundi ( simplified Chinese: 李云迪 traditional Chinese: 李雲迪 pinyin: Lǐ Yúndí born 7 October 1982) is a Chinese concert pianist popularly known as Yundi (stylized as YUNDI) and formerly Yundi Li.