M.Mus (U of T)
B.Mus (Oberlin)
Percussionist Thomas Li is active as a chamber musician and performer of new music. A recent Master’s graduate from University of Toronto, he studied under the tutelage of Aiyun Huang, Beverley Johnston, Ryan Scott and Charles Settle. He has attended multiple summer festivals including Banff Centre’s Evolution: Classical and the Nief-Norf Summer Festival where he worked with members of Kronos Quartet and Mark Applebaum respectively. As an avid contemporary performer, Thomas was a member of University of Toronto’s Contemporary Music Ensemble as well as Toronto-based percussion quartet Kairos Quartet. He also took part in the recording of Elizabeth Ogonek’s chamber concerto, where are we now, released in an album on the Oberlin Music Label.
Thomas is also interested in integrating visual media with his playing, and aspires to dedicate his artistic voice to expressing personal emotions and preserving the collective narratives of his home city, Hong Kong. In his multiple Multimedia project, he is dedicated to understanding how cinematic language can help communicate contemporary musical gestures when the two art forms are paired together.
Get to know Thomas…Beyond the Bio!
Hobbies: bouldering, photography, pour-over coffee, art films
Musical influences: Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Leslie Cheung, Nicole Lizée, John Cage, Matthew Lau
Favourite food: Cantonese BBQ Pork on Rice
Least favourite food: Chicken Breast
Favourite music: contemporary percussion, math rock, R&B, orchestral, folk rock
Favourite album: Dance, No One’s Watching by Ezra Collective
Favourite movie: Cinema Paradiso, Ashes of Time, A Brighter Summer Day, Star Wars
Favourite musical theatre/opera: Wicked
Best quote from your teacher: “Let the drum sing!”
Favourite quote: “Do or Do Not, There is No Try” – Yoda, Star Wars
Favourite book: The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross
Latest Homework from Thomas
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Preferred Books for Keshav’s Students
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STICK CONTROL
George Lawrence Stone’s Stick Control is the bible of drumming. In 1993, Modern Drummer magazine named the book one of the top 25 books of all-time. In the words of the author, it is the ideal book for improving: control, speed, flexibility, touch, rhythm, lightness, delicacy, power, endurance, preciseness of execution and muscular coordination, with extra attention given to the development of the weak hand.
RCM Technical Requirements for Piano
The Visual Drumset Method
