Teng Li

Teng Li (born in Nanjing, China) is a Chinese-Canadian violist. She is currently the principal violist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, From 2018 to 2024, she was the principal violist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, following 14 seasons with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. She is also the Artistic Director of Morningside Music Bridge and is a member of the Rosamunde String Quartet, led by Noah Bendix-Balgley.

Education Li began the violin at five years old. In 1992, she entered the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and at the age of sixteen, was accepted to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she studied with Michael Tree, Joseph de Pasquale, and Karen Tuttle. WQXR-FM (New York), WHYY-FM (Pennsylvania), WFMT (Chicago), and the Bavarian Radio Symphony (Munich).

Li is also an active recitalist and chamber musician, regularly appearing at the Marlboro Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Mostly Mozart Festival, Music from Angel Fire, Moritzburg Festival (Germany) and the Rising Stars Festival in Caramoor. She has performed with the Guarneri Quartet in New York, at Carnegie Hall, and with the Chamber Music Society at 92nd Street Y. She was also featured with the Guarneri Quartet in their last season in 2009, and was also a member of the prestigious Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two program.

In addition to her current position teaching at Chicago College of Performing Arts, Li teaches at the Sarasota Music Festival and Morningside Music Bridge and has held previous positions at the Colburn School, University of Toronto, Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and Montreal’s Conservatoire de Musique.

Recordings

1939 – Teng Li, Benjamin Bowman, Meng-chieh Liu. Producers: David Jaeger, Teng Li, Ron Searles. Recorded at the Glenn Gould Studio, Toronto. Label: Azica Records. June 2015