New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Lydia Li is one of the most exciting and versatile composers working today. With a focus in China, the United Kingdom, and the United States her music has been recorded, played and performed all over the world.
She has been a musician her entire life, originally starting when she began playing piano over 20 years ago. Since then piano has become a beacon of self expression, her go-to for all things composition, and has acted as a doorway for her into the music world as a whole. In the same way that music has affected her life and those around her, she aims to spread her own music to help lighten hearts around the world. Li believes, "we should all be dancing in the moonlight." We should all be under the same sky and come together to bring harmony, peace, and love around the world as one species of humans.
Li's most recent work includes her role as the lead composer for the original score on Barbie: Mermaid Power, which was released on Netflix US on
September 1st, 2022. In its first week, the project created much buzz and gained large interest within its target audience. Li says "It's a great project that I'm proud to have been a part of. The score is orchestra-oriented with a focus on modernism to assist in story-telling and relatability to the children of today." Li's score assists the film in being more dynamic, promoting the rhythm within the film and giving each character their own characteristics and vitality. Her passion for composition is highlighted throughout the beautifully crafted arrangements expertly woven within each scene.
Li graduated from Columbia College
Chicago with a Master's degree in
Music Composition for the Screen. Upon graduating, she worked with Emmy-Award Winning Composer Geoff Zanelli at Remote Control Production where she contributed on a number of projects including
Blackout (starring Abbie Cornish, Josh Duhamel).
Li composed the soundtrack for the drama short film Stung (2021), which screened across the globe and won the Best
Drama Film at Biennial Art Film Festival. The film went on to become an official selection in over 10 film festivals including New Era Film Festival, Toronto Multicultural Film Festival and International Filmschool Festival. The film focuses on showcasing the difficulties and struggles women face growing up. Li's score was minimal but efficient, supplementing the main character's state of mind and growth. Li says "The impact of not saying something can be just as, if not more so impactful and I really believe this film showcases this idea beautifully." Alongside this she has also created music for multiple Chinese shows, including 'Bafan Shenyu' which has accumulated over 40 million views on Tencent Video.
She is not limited to composing, additionally she is also a singer-songwriter, who has collaborated with a wide spectrum of musicians in the US, UK and China. Li herself is currently in the middle of creating her first official EP. Li has said, "Making songs can be different than scoring for media, but both are passions of mine. Both of them are to express messages. Switching from one another always refreshes my mind and gives me inspiration." It is in this way that she forms her unique understanding of music and is able to share her own renditions with the world in the medium she speaks best, vibrations.
