LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 1, 2015)— Rui Li, a doctoral student in trumpet performance at the University of Kentucky School of Music, now finds himself traveling the world as a full-time member of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) Orchestra. Located in Beijing, China, NCPA Orchestra is considered one of the world’s greatest symphony orchestras.
The NCPA Orchestra tours internationally and hosts many of the world’s greatest conductors, soloists and guest artists. Their home venue is China’s prestigious NCPA, which is more colloquially known as "The Giant Egg."
At present, Li is touring Italy with the NCPA Orchestra. This tour will include performances in Milan, Turin, Palma, Florence and Genoa. The orchestra will be premiering a new Chinese opera, "Il Ragazzo del Risciò," and also performing many impressive and difficult masterworks, including Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 and Symphony No. 5, Igor Stravinsky’s "Soldier's Tale," as well as a new opera "Dawn Quiet."
In the last year, the NCPA Orchestra toured Guangzhou, performed Giuseppe Verdi’s "Aida" with guest conductor Zubin Mehta, and performed Richard Strauss’s "Alpine Symphony" with guest conductor Antoni Wit, a Polish conductor who serves as music director of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.
Li won the trumpet position with the NCPA Orchestra in January 2015 after highly competitive international auditions were held in North America and Asia. Prior to his permanent appointment, he was a visiting/guest musician with NCPA Orchestra for several months in late 2014.
In addition to his work with the NCPA Orchestra, Li was recently invited by Valery Gergiev to serve as tutti trumpet for the China-Russia Union Symphony Orchestra.
As a teaching assistant at UK, Li taught many classes and founded/held a leadership role with FreeK, the UK Free Improvisation Ensemble, which performed at the 2014 International Society for Improvised Music Conference in New York City. He also taught applied trumpet lessons, including serving as a temporary trumpet instructor during the 2012-2013 academic year during the national search for a permanent teacher.
When Li completes his Doctor of Musical Arts in trumpet performance at UK, it is believed he will be the first Chinese citizen to complete a doctoral degree on a brass instrument.
At UK, Li studies trumpet with Jason Dovel, assistant professor of trumpet, and his dissertation chair is David Elliott, associate professor of French horn. While at the university, he also studied with former faculty members Vince DiMartino and Mark Clodfelter.
The UK School of Music at UK College of Fine Arts has garnered national reputation for high-caliber education in opera, choral and instrumental music performance, as well as music education, composition and music theory.
MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu
