YunFei Li
With a doctorate in music arts from the University of Missouri in Kansas City, YunFei Li has studied it all - and is far from ready to give up learning! She is constantly in pursuit of new musical experiences, which she hopes will give her the tools to achieve her composing dreams: “I’m making music everyday and I’m trying to challenge myself to make music in different genres, different styles, trying to explore new techniques and new softwares to make music. I’m getting to know new artists, to get inspiration from them. I want to focus on composing, and I want to be a great composer.“
Li grew up in Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China, where she first began studying violin at age 6. By age 18 she was already composing pop melodies using computer software, began dipping her toes into the film music scene, and was accepted to the Conservatory of Music in Beijing - a huge accomplishment for an aspiring musician. “[It] is one of the top music conservatory schools in China, I was so lucky to be accepted there,” Li recalls, “I majored in music production, and during college I trained in music composition as well. I made a lot of material there; music for film, dance, opera, and for art song. And after I graduated from there, I decided to come to the US to study because I want to learn something new and see a different culture, meet different people.”
With varying styles of music up her sleeve, Li admits she has a difficult time picking a favorite for very long. “From every genre [of music] I can find something great … I think I just like every kind of music!” Joining Nomadic Soundsters has been a communicative hurdle for Li, but she welcomed the experience. “Our project has three composers, and it is a great challenge for three composers to make one piece, but I really enjoy this project because each of us has a different unique style, so [to be cohesive] we need to connect to each other through music. That is the difficult part, but also the most interesting part.“ Li’s group has tackled the collaborative process as a three-sectioned piece, with each composer taking the musical lead on a single section, and then adding embellishments to the other sections of the piece.
“What I enjoy the most is [that] even though we have the same theme, Fragile States, we each have a different understanding about the theme. The music and the dance combined is really amazing, we put ideas together and it is all related to the theme.” Like most of us, however, Li can feel the difference of having to use online platforms, “The difficult thing is, because we are not face to face, sometimes it’s hard to communicate or make connections with each other. That’s the challenge here. But if we didn’t have COVID we wouldn’t have this NS project happen, [so] this also is a good thing.”
Check out more of Li’s work at www.yunfeilimusic.com, or follow her on Instagram @yunfeilimusic.
