Simone Xinmeng Li

Great music begins with people
who are fully engaged in the act of making it.

Simone (Xinmeng) Li is a choral conductor and singer whose artistic practice is rooted in a simple belief: great music begins with people who are fully engaged in the act of making it. As a conductor, she is particularly interested in the relationship between musical excellence and human connection, and in how a conductor can create an environment where singers feel both supported and challenged to contribute their own artistry. She hopes to create an environment where singers feel empowered to bring their own voices, ideas, and artistry to the music, and where the ensemble can discover together what they can create beyond what any one person could achieve alone.

Li’s musical identity was shaped from an early age through her experience with the Beijing Philharmonic Choir. Beyond the eight years of intensive training in choral singing, ear training, and music theory, the choir instilled in her a deep appreciation for the love, dedication, and sense of responsibility that bring an ensemble together. Growing up in this environment, she experienced how individual commitment could contribute to a collective artistic achievement, and how the relationships formed through music could be just as meaningful as the music itself. As she progressed through the ensemble, she performed at international festivals and diplomatic events and sang alongside choirs from around the world. At one international gathering in Italy when she was 13, she shared a joyful celebration with choirs from around the world. Although the singers did not speak the same language, they communicated effortlessly through choral singing, coming together to sing pieces they all knew. She was deeply inspired by the way music created an immediate sense of connection across cultural and linguistic differences, allowing people to share joy and understanding without relying on words. Most importantly, her years in the choir taught her that musical excellence and human connection are not separate pursuits, but can grow out of one another. This early experience continues to shape her approach to conducting and her desire to lead ensembles in which singers are not only committed to the music, but also deeply connected to one another.

As a singer and ensemble leader, Li has continued to explore the many ways people can connect through music. During high school, she sang in choirs, performed as a soloist, appeared in musicals, and led a cappella groups. As a leader of the a cappella group, she strengthened her ability to help singers listen closely to one another, balance individual voices within a unified musical expression, and sustain creative collaboration during the pandemic, using music to share love and offer comfort during a difficult time. At the University of Michigan, where she earned three degrees in Voice Performance, Music Theory, and Economics, she continued to develop both her performance and leadership skills. As the assistant conductor of the Arts Chorale, she worked with singers from diverse backgrounds, learning how to help an ensemble create a unified sound and support amateur singers as they learned their music. She also served as president of Annappella, a Chinese a cappella group, where she led rehearsals, organized performances, produced showcases, and secured resources to support the group’s creative projects. She created a community where Chinese students who loved singing could connect with one another, form lifelong friendships, create music together, and share their music and passion with a wider audience. These experiences shaped her understanding of leadership as a process of bringing people together, turning individual ideas into a shared vision.

Li has continued to develop her conducting through intensive study with conductors including Eugene Rogers, Mark Stover, Jerry Blackstone, Bill Weinert, Donald Nally, Beth Willer, and Stephen Spinelli. These experiences deepened her understanding of gesture, breath, posture, sound, pacing, and the physical communication between conductor and ensemble, while reinforcing her interest in a conducting style that gives singers freedom while maintaining a clear artistic vision.

Li studied voice at the University of Michigan with Rose Mannino. As a singer, Li has performed with major orchestras and ensembles in prominent venues across the United States and internationally. She performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. As a member of the University of Michigan Chamber Choir, she performed Mendelssohn’s Elijah at the Kennedy Center and toured Argentina, collaborated with Thomas Adès and the New York Philharmonic on America at Lincoln Center, performed All Rise with Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center, and premiered Susan Botti’s Vespers and Nkeiru Okoye’s When the Caged Bird Sings.

Li is currently pursuing a Master of Music in Choral Conducting at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, where she studies with Beth Willer. At Peabody, she is expanding her knowledge of choral repertoire and refining her conducting technique while continuing to explore what it means to build a meaningful ensemble culture. She currently serves as assistant conductor at the Frederick Chorale. For Li, a life in music is a continual process of discovery. The more she sings, conducts, and encounters music from different times, places, and perspectives, the more she finds there is to question, learn, and experience. She hopes to remain a musician who approaches each piece with curiosity, allowing each encounter with music to reveal something new about the work, about others, and about herself.

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