Amanda Wai-Yin Li

“…a tall order, but one expertly achieved by soprano Amanda Li. Hers is a huge voice but one which is highly adaptable and, when required, nimble.” -- Liverpool Daily Post

Soprano Amanda Wai-Yin Li is equally at home on the recital and opera stage. She made her operatic debut as Bao Chai in the Asian premiere of Bright Sheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber co-produced by San Francisco Opera and Hong Kong Arts Festival, and has given recitals around the UK and Europe. Li created the role of Ma’am in Eli Marshall’s chamber opera Mila, commissioned by Asia Society Hong Kong, and revived the role in San Francisco and New York. She sang the role of Sieglinde in Wagner’s Die Walküre in Berlin, Germany in 2023. When residing in the UK, she premiered Sisi Feng’s Tao Te Ching with Ensemble 10/10, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in Liverpool, UK. In Il Tempo del Postino, a group art show commissioned by the Manchester International Festival, Li sang excerpts from Madama Butterfly (Cio-Cio San) at the Manchester Opera House and was later featured in the re-run of the production at Art Basel in Switzerland.

Previously taught at the State University of New York at Oswego and Southwestern College, Dr. Li is well-versed in various musical styles as well as both traditional and contemporary techniques. She is certified in Levels I and II of Somatic Voicework™ the LoVetri Method, and her students have gone on to graduate studies and perform at professional regional theatres. As a music director, she has conducted (stick or on the keys) and coached, both at the professional and academic levels, over a dozen musicals, including Guys and Dolls, Bright Star, Head over Heels, and SpongeBob SquarePants the Musical.

Li’s research interests include musico-poetic relationship in song cycles, late-romantic vocal music, gender issues in vocal performance, and analysis of music recordings. 

Originally from Hong Kong, Li conducted most of her graduate studies in the UK, at the Royal Northern College of Music and Royal Holloway, University of London, before obtaining her Doctor of Music degree in voice performance from Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Bloomington.