Biography

Mingdu Li is currently pursuing an MMus in Composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, studying under Dr Oliver Iredale Searle. She holds a BMus (Hons) in Composition from RCS, where she studied with Tom David Wilson, and a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics from University College London.

At RCS, Mingdu expanded her musical visions and diversified her interdisciplinary creations. Recently, Mingdu has concentrated her musical aesthetic on illustrating the ‘silent’ languages and concepts of maths and quantum physics into ‘audible’ compositions. Her pieces Superposition and Measurement (premiered at the RCS 175th-anniversary by the Hebrides Ensemble) and Ghost Particles – Neutrinos (performed by the Red Note Ensemble), boosted her composing ambition to synthesise artistic and intellectual elements, and her orchestral piece Entropy won the 2022/23 Walter and Dinah Wolfe Memorial Prize. This latter work premiered at Glasgow’s City Halls by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Martyn Brabbins and was later broadcast on BBC Radio 3. The Edinburgh Music Review has described her music as having “…a compelling ever-present pulse, conveying the sense of inexorability…” while Bachtrack Music Review acclaimed her compositions as exuding “a sense of an uncontrollable beast of pure energy… a confident work.”

Award: Silver Medal 2023