Born into a family of well-known musicians in Shanghai, Weigang Li began studying the violin with his parents Keqiang Li and Huier Chen when he was 5 and went on to attend the Shanghai Conservatory Middle School at age 14. Three years later, in 1981, he was selected to go to study for one year at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music through the first cultural exchange program between the sister cities of Shanghai and San Francisco. in 1985, upon graduating from the Shanghai Conservatory, Weigang Li left China to continue his studies at Northern Illinois University and later studied and taught at the Juilliard School. Besides his parents, other important teachers have included Shmuel Ashkenasi, Tan Shu-Chen, Li Mu-Zhen, Robert Mann and Isadore Tinkleman,
Mr. Li was featured in the 1980 Oscar-winning documentary film From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China. He made his solo debut at 17 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and has appeared as soloist with Shanghai Symphony, China Philharmonic, Guangzhou Symphony, Hangzhou Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony and Asian Youth Orchestra.
Weigang Li is a founding member and first violinist of the world-renowned Shanghai Quartet since 1983. Now in its 41st season, the Shanghai Quartet has performed nearly 3000 concerts in 35 countries and recorded over 30 CD albums, including a highly acclaimed 7-disc set of complete Beethoven string quartets on Camerata label.
In fall of 2020, Weigang Li joined Tianjin Juilliard School as resident faculty of violin and chair of strings. He has been an artist-in-residence at Montclair State University for 19 years and a violin professor at Bard College Conservatory of Music for 16 years.
He also holds the title of guest concert-master of Shanghai Symphony Orchestra since 2009, guest professor at both Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.
Mr. Li plays on an Antonio Stradivari golden period violin the ‘Kneisel-Grün’ made in 1714, which is on a generous loan from J. A. Beare International Violin Society.
