Meili Li

Meili Li, countertenor (Nireno)

London-based Meili Li is the first countertenor originally from China to have an international career. He is the winner of the Farinelli Prize (2016) and Second Prize (2022) at the London Handel Festival Singing Competition.

Recent roles include Licida in Vivaldi’s L’Olimpiade under Peter Whelan (Irish National Opera, Royal Opera House, and Nouvel Opéra Fribourg); Adone in Salvatore Sciarrino’s Venere e Adone under Kent Nagano (Hamburg State Opera); Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo e Euridice under Peter Whelan (Blackwater Valley Opera Festival); Spirit in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (Royal Opera of Versailles under Jordi Savall and the Royal Opera House/Roundhouse under Christopher Moulds); Eunuch in Shostakovich’s The Nose under Vladimir Jurowski (Bavarian State Opera); Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream under Andreas Schüller (Theater Gießen); Liang Shanbo in Richard Mills’ The Butterfly Lovers under Mills (Victorian Opera Melbourne); Peleo in Fux’s La corona d’Arianna under Alfredo Bernardini (Styriarte Festival); and Alcasto in von Bayreuth’s Argenore under Attilio Cremonesi (Theater Münster). Handel roles include the title roles in Giustino under Markellos Chryssicos (Theater an der Wien), Tolomeo under Stefan Vladar (Theater Lübeck), and Fernando, re di Castiglia under Leo Duarte (London Handel Festival); Alessandro in Tolomeo under Federico Maria Sardelli (Händel-Festspiele Karlsruhe); and Dardano in Amadigi di Gaula under Attilio Cremonesi (Meiningen State Theater).

Past and upcoming concerts include appearances at Carnegie Hall, the Barbican Centre, 11 Downing Street State Room, Salle Gaveau, the Concertgebouw, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, and numerous major concert halls in China.

CD releases include Variations on Choice and Longing, Fux’s La corona d’Arianna with Zefiro under Alfredo Bernardini, and the upcoming Giulio Cesare with the English Concert under Harry Bicket.

Li holds degrees in film and philosophy from Peking University; a MA and DipRAM (with Distinction) in voice from the Royal Academy of Music, where he remains one of the few students to have been awarded full marks for his final recital; and an Artist Diploma (with Distinction) in opera from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.