Yifei Li, born in 1996, is a Chinese cellist based in the United States. She currently serves as Cello Instructor, Chair of the String Department, and Chamber Music Coordinator at the
Eastman Community Music School, as well as Cello Faculty at Alfred University. She has performed as a cellist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, served as principal cellist of the
Juilliard Orchestra, and was a member of the Juilliard School’s Honors Chamber Music Program.
Yifei began her musical studies in 2005 at the Primary and Secondary Schools affiliated with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Liu Dahai and Chen Zheng. During her nine years there, she was consistently awarded scholarships, named a Shanghai “OutstandingStudent,” and received the Tang Junyuan Scholarship. She became the first cello student in the school’s history to be included in its official records.
In 2014, she became the first student to graduate directly from the Shanghai Conservatory’s secondary school into The Juilliard School’s cello program, where she studied with Joel
Krosnick (former chair of the Juilliard cello department) and Natasha Brofsky. She received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees on full scholarship.
In 2020, Yifei became the first Chinese cellist to pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance at the Eastman School of Music on full scholarship. While at Eastman, she was appointed
teaching assistant in cello, awarded a secondary teaching position, and in 2022 earned both the Performer’s Certificate and a minor in Music Theory. In the summer of 2023, she taught chamber music at the Eastman Summer Program, and in September of the same year she was appointed the youngest cello faculty member in the Eastman Community Music School’s history. In September 2024, she was further promoted to Chair of the String Department.
As an educator, Yifei has extensive experience working with students of all levels. Her cello students have been admitted to top conservatories including Juilliard, Eastman, Manhattan
School of Music, New England Conservatory, Mannes, and the University of Cincinnati. In 2022, her students won first and third prizes at the 9th Hong Kong International Music Festival, where she was honored with the National Outstanding Teacher Award. In 2023, she was invited to serve as a jury member for the Wiesbaden International Music Competition in Germany.
As the first prize winner of the 2011 Osaka International String Competition, Yifei has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the Frankfurt Conservatory Symphony Orchestra and the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also performed widely as a member of the Juilliard Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, appearing at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s David Geffen and Peter Jay Sharp Halls, and the Chicago Symphony Center. In 2018, she collaborated with soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan and performed Verdi operas with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
A passionate chamber musician, Yifei has premiered new works at Lincoln Center, including the string quartet Shadow Play, and has been invited to prestigious chamber music festivals such as Yellow Barn, Kneisel Hall, Prussia Cove, Fontainebleau, and the Perlman Music Program.