Biography

Victoria Songwei Li is a Singaporean soprano based in London. She started her musical education as a pianist and violinist at a young age. Victoria is currently a second year postgraduate student and the Leverhulme Arts Scholar at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying with Yvonne Kenny. She obtained her Bachelors of Music (Honours) from the Royal Academy of Music in London under the tutelage of soprano Jennifer Dakin, and Mary Hill. She has also sung in masterclasses with Edith Wiens, Dennis O'Neill and Susan Bullock. Victoria was the recipient of the Royal Academy of Music Clifton Prize for Singing for achieving the highest final recital mark in her year.

Victoria started singing lessons at the age of 17 in Singapore with Wong Su Sun, and Korean soprano Jeong AeRee. She made her operatic debut as Giannetta with New Opera Singapore in their 2012 production of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore. Since then, opera roles have included Blanche in Les Dialogue des Carmélites (Poulenc) 2018, Poppea in L'incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi) 2017 and Cupidon in Orpheus in the Underworld (Offenbach) 2016 with New Opera Singapore, Cricket and Pepik (cover) in The Cunning Little Vixen (Janacek) as well as the Soprano solo in Riders to the Sea (Vaughan-Williams) in 2015 with the British Youth Opera, and First Singing Apple (cover) in Jonathan Dove's The Little Green Swallow also with the British Youth Opera in 2014, as well as being in the chorus of the world premiere of John Sharpley's political opera Fences in 2012. She also sang in the chorus of Royal Academy Opera's Suor Angelica (Puccini) in 2014. In scenes, she has sung the roles of Marie (La Fille du Regiment), Despina (Cosi fan tutte), Sandrina (La Finta Giardiniera), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), 2nd Lady (Die Zauberflote), Virtu (L'incoronazione di Poppea), and Echo (Ariadne auf Naxos​).
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Victoria has recently performed as the soprano soloist in Bernstein's Chichester Psalms with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel in their European tour. 

Opera aside, Victoria is a keen song performer, and has performed song recitals in the Barbican Hall, Wigmore Hall, and sang a recital of Russian songs at the LSO St. Luke's. She was a part of the Royal Academy of Music/Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata series in November 2014. Victoria was also a finalist in the 2016 Singapore Lyric Opera - ASEAN Competition, and a semi-finalist in the Jack Donnelly National Mozart Singing Competition and the Royal Over-Seas League Annual Music Competition.

She also performed as a soprano soloist in Handel and Buxtehude Cantatas at the London Handel Festival with the Guildhall Cantata Ensemble conducted by James Johnstone.

Victoria has been generously supported in her studies by The Leverhulme Trust, the Guildhall Trust, William Ganz Scholarship, Hamish Dyer Young Musicians' Scholarship, and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust Derek Butler Award.

Victoria Songwei Li