Athens, Ga.- The University of Georgia Performing Arts Center will present award-winning pianist George Li April 2 at 8 p.m. in Ramsey Concert Hall.
A rising star in the classical music world, Li will perform a program that features Beethoven’s popular “Moonlight Sonata” as well as works by Chopin and Liszt.
The 17-year-old musician has already won major international prizes and performed with symphony orchestras around the world. Li won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions as well as the Gilmore Young Artist Award, and he appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra following his win in the first Cooper Competition at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He has also performed with orchestras including the Xiamen Philharmonic in China, the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra in Venezuela, the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra and I Solisti di Perugia in Italy.
In 2011, he was invited to perform at the White House for President and Michelle Obama in an event honoring German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Li gave his first public performance at Boston’s Steinway Hall at the age of 10. At age 6, he won First Prize in the Massachusetts Music Teachers Association Competition. He attends the Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Massachusetts and studies piano at the New England Conservatory.
Li’s Athens recital will be recorded for broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today, which is heard by more than 1.3 million listeners across the country.
Tickets for the George Li recital are $27 and are free for UGA students with valid UGA ID card. Tickets can be purchased online at pac.uga.edu or by calling the Performing Arts Center box office at 706/542-4400 or toll free at 888/289-8497.
The Performing Arts Center will also present a Young People’s Concert for eighth and ninth graders April 3 at 10 a.m. in Ramsey Concert Hall. Admission to the Young People’s Concert is free. Reservations can be made by calling 706/542-2290.
The series underwriter is Lars Ljungdahl, in memory of Despy Karlas.
The performance underwriter is Robert Saveland, in memory of Florence Saveland Voellmecke.