Nicole Li

13 year old Nicole is a student of highly acclaimed music educator Yoon Sen Lee. She began her piano lessons at age 5, and has been making excellent progress in her music journey.

In 2016, 7 year old Nicole was awarded First Prize at Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition Austria, and made her first Europe debut at Mozarteum Wiener Saal in Salzburg. She was chosen as the winner of the special prize, in conjunction with Golden Classical Music Awards International Competition USA, and was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2017.

In April 2018, 9 year old Nicole won First Prize of Piano Solo Recitals Under 15 category at Fremantle Eisteddfod.

In August 2018, Nicole won First Prize in Piano Recital Under 12 category at Global Outstanding Chinese Artists International Piano Competition in Shenzhen China. In addition to her first place in the finals, Nicole was the youngest of eight pianists awarded with contracts in the grand final which gave her a chance to return to China to perform concerto works with orchestra.

In September 2018, at North of Perth Music Festival, as the youngest contestant in the section, Nicole won First Prize in Piano Recital Under 16 category. At the Winners’ Concert (Juniors) on 20 October 2018, she went on to win again the following awards

• Most Outstanding Performance (Junior)

• Most Promising Junior Pianist

• Most Outstanding Junior Instrumentalist

• People’s Choice Award

In November 2018, Nicole was awarded High Distinction (A+) at her Pianoforte Certificate of Performance exam by the AMEB.

On 9-12 April 2019, 10 year old Nicole attended Concours International de la Ville de Gagny in France. She competed in the Young Talents category against contestants from Canada, China, France, Russia, UK, Ukraine, Romania, US, Malaysia and etc., The adjudicator panel awarded Nicole with all three top prizes in the category:

• First Prize - Young Talents

• Prize J.S. Bach

• Les Maitres du Piano (Best Sound)

Being the youngest winner in the whole competition, Nicole was invited to perform at the Winners’ Concert in Gagny City Theatre on April 12, 2019.

On 13 April 2019, Nicole attained piano performance diploma with Distinction by Conservatoire International De Musique Paris.

In May 2019, at Fremantle Eisteddfod, 10 year old Nicole was awarded First Prize in Piano Recitals Under 18 category, and Second Prize in Piano Solo Romantic Under 18.

On 23 June 2019, alongside other musicians from UWA and WAAPA, Nicole performed at the Piano Spectacular concert at Government House Ballroom.

In October 2019, for the second year in a row, Nicole won First Prize in Piano Recital Under 16 section and Most Promising Junior Pianist at North of Perth Music Festival.

On 28 November 2020, to celebrate Beethoven’s 250th Birthday, Nicole performed Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 (first movement) with Fremantle Symphony Orchestra.

In January 2021, 12 year old Nicole attained Licentiate of Trinity College London (LTCL) piano performance diploma. She is one of the youngest pianists in Australia obtaining such high level of music qualification.

On 28 February 2021, led and conducted by Head of the UWA Conservatorium of Music Prof Alan Lourens, together with Fremantle Symphony Orchestra, Nicole performed at 2021 ATAR Music Workshop for Year 11&12 music teachers and students.

On 10-11 September 2021, at North of Perth Music Festival 2021, Nicole was named winner of the Piano Open Championship and special AMEB award, and for the third year in a row, First Prize in Piano Recital Under 16 category.

On 12 September 2021, at WA Music Teachers’ Association (WAMTA) Recital and Concerto Com-petition, Nicole was awarded Best Baroque Performance.

On 8 October 2021, Nicole won First Prize of the Concerto Section at the WA Pianists Competition.

On 16-17 October 2021, at the Winners’ Concerts of North of Perth Music Festival, among 34 first prizewinners of piano, strings, singing, instrumentals and speech & drama in different age groups, Nicole was awarded

• Most Outstanding Junior Instrumentalist

• Most Outstanding Senior Instrumentalist

• Overall Outstanding Performance for entire festival

She then made musical history of North of Perth Music Festival in 64 years by becoming the first piano soloist to win three top prizes in the same year.

A music scholarship student of All Saints College, Nicole also plays the Chinese instrument “Gu Zheng” and sings at her College Choir. She often appears at local community and school concerts, including Rising Star Concert series, Australia Bushfire Relief Fundraising Recital, Concert at One series at St George’s Cathedral, Outreach Concerts at Willetton Uniting Church and so on.

Update - 2024

MetSO Young Artist 2022 Nicole Li has now obtained her Fellowship of Trinity College of London (FTCL) Piano Performance Diploma!

At only 15 this is such a great honour and outstanding achievement for Nicole at such a young age to obtain this. The Fellowship Piano Performance Diploma is considered to be the equivalent to a Masters Degree Performance standards of any tertiary institution worldwide.

Congratulations Nicole!

Concert List