CHINA STAGE

Jiarui Li started learning the piano at the age of five. She attended the Music Primary and the Middle School Affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory of Music, under Professor William Wei-Lin. She graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London. During her studies, Jiarui Li learned from renowned piano pedagogues such as Christopher Elton and Hamish Milne. She won Third Prize at the Vivian Langrish Memorial and the Douglass Cameron Prize of the Royal Academy of Music. In 2013, Jiarui Li represented this institution at the Jacques Samuel Competition in the Wigmore Hall in London and successfully made it to the finals. She was awarded the Winifred Christie, Elsa & Leonard Cross Memorial Award, as well as the Clumbio Studio Scholarship. Jiarui Li has performed at numerous music festivals such as Mozart Music Festival, French Music Festival, Summer Music Festival, and Ensemble Afternoon Tea. She participated in a 2011 Chinese New Year concert at the Chinese Embassy in London. Jiarui Li has performed in music halls such as the Colston Hall in Bristol, the St. James Piccadilly Church, the Senate House and the Steinway Hall in London.

Bocheng Wang started learning the piano from his grandfather and Chen Jin. He completed the Music Middle School Affiliated to the Xi’an Conservatory of Music under Professor Chen Bo. Bocheng Wang studied Piano in London, at the London’s Purcell School for young musicians and at the Royal Academy of Music, under Professor Christopher Elton, where he obtained his master’s degree under Professor Ian Fountain. During his studies, Bocheng Wang won a few prizes at several international competitions, including Third Prize at the Newcastle Young Pianist of the North International Competition and Second Prize at the Liszt Society International Piano Competition. He has performed on stages including the Wigmore Hall and the Kings Palace in London and the Fazioli Concert Hall in Italy. In 2016, he was invited by Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and successfully collaborated with the London Mozart Players Ensemble in the performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D minor for the celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s ninetieth birthday. Bocheng Wang has given several recitals in the Hall of the Royal Academy of Music. In January 2020, he performed the Piano Concerto No. 3 by Sergei Prokofiev with the Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra and won First Prize at the Yamaha Music Foundation Scholarship Competition.

Xiaotong Duan obtained her bachelor’s degree at the University of Wuhan and a master’s degree at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama under Professor Nuccia Focile. During her studies, she participated in masterclass of Sir Antonio Pappano, music director of the Royal Opera House. Today Xiaotong Duan performs at the Welsh National Opera and participates in the Youth Opera project. She has collaborated with renowned conductors and directors such as Carlo Rizzi, Alice Farnham, Daisy Evans and Matthew Eberhardt. Xiaotong Duan is very interested in cross-cultural music. She has conducted research on English art songs of the early 20th century based on the translation of ancient Chinese poetry, which she presented in her thesis titled Orientalism and Trans-Culturalism: the Presentation of Chinese Ancient Poems in 20th Century Western Song. She has taken part in numerous productions including the operettas Moscow, Cheryomushki by Dmitri Shostakovich and Die Fledermaus by Johannes Strauss II. In various opera houses, she has appeared in numerous roles such as Barbarina from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Adina from Gaetano Donizetti’s L'elisir d'amore, Flora from Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, and Gretel from the opera Hänsel und Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck.