Zhang Li graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Liuqin from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and a master’s degree in Ruan from the Sichuan Conservatory of Music. She is currently a Liuqin musician with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO), a Liuqin instructor for the Singapore National Youth Chinese Orchestra (SNYCO) and adjunct faculty at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) School of Music.

She picked up Liuqin at a young age from her father, and later studied under teachers Ye Kexin and Zeng Qingrong for Liuqin and Pipa. She attended the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, majored in Liuqin and minored in Zhongruan and Pipa, where she excelled as a scholarship recipient for four consecutive years. After graduation, she joined the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra and performed worldwide over the next decade. Thereafter she joined SCO in 2005.

Zhang Li achieved notable recognition; second prize winner in the Liuqin category at the International Chinese Instrumental Competition and Excellent Performance Award winner for a Zhongruan premiere at the Shanghai Spring International Music Festival. She was invited to perform a Zhongruan solo at the Macao International Arts Festival. She recorded albums and composed theme music for several films. In 2011, she performed at a book launch “My Lifelong Challenge: Singapore’s Bilingual Journey”, authored by former Prime Minister of Singapore Mr Lee Kuan Yew. She organized multiple chamber concerts at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay and collaborated with various orchestras on several concerto works for Liuqin, Yueqin, and Zhongruan.

Zhang Li is dedicated to Chinese instrumental education and has achieved impressive results in teaching. She taught the plucked strings section of the Chinese orchestras at Raffles Institution, St. Nicholas Girls’ School, Nanyang Primary School and her students have won top awards at the Singapore Youth Festival. She served as a Liuqin mentor for the Chinese Orchestra Music Camp organized by the Ministry of Education in Singapore and adjudicated numerous national and international Chinese orchestral competitions. She also co-founded the NEW PLAY chamber ensemble to provide a platform for local youth interested in music performance.

Zhang Li has trained many excellent Liuqin musicians in SNYCO. In 2017, 4 of her students won two silver and two bronze medals at the Chinese Liuqin Competition. In 2024, 2 of her students won a gold and a silver medal in the advanced Liuqin category at the Nanyang International Music Competition. Her Liuqin students at NAFA won the first and second prize in the senior Zhongruan category at the 2022 Singapore Chinese Music Competition.