Bio

Elliona Z. S. Li is a Chinese Canadian composer. Having been raised in both Eastern and Western cultures, Li’s music often features twisted combinations of elements from both. Li started her musical journey at the age of 5 as a pianist, and at 12 years old she was admitted to the Shenyang Conservatory of Music to receive undergraduate education in classical piano performance. She scored her first TV cartoon series in 2007. In 2012, due to a serious hand injury, she shifted her focus to composition and studied with great composers like Ian Krouse and Richard Danielpour and received her BA (cum laude) in Composition in 2016. Her recent works include: “Of Shadow and Light” for orchestra, “Nothing is going to be a Thing” for orchestra, “Swaying Flower Petals” for mezzo-soprano and guitar, “Reach”- dir. by Shelby Halliman, “Johnny and the Dirt Nap" - dir. by Ziyao Liu (original scores,) and “Generally Educated Dora” - dir. by Alice Park, and “The Sexy Sexy Milkdmaid - the Moosical” - written and dir. by Sophie Gillet and Jacob Menke (original songs.) She is working on her first chamber opera about a person who struggles with mental illnesses. She is also one of six fellows selected to participate in the 2022 Sundance Institute Film Music Intensive Program. Li is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in composition specializing in visual media composition at UCLA Herb Alpert school of Music in Los Angeles, CA under the guidance of Peter Golub and Ian Krouse.