Hailed for her “torrents of voluptuous sound…Li-Cohen impresses as an artist of tremendous conviction, who fascinates even as she provokes“ Gramophone Magazine, “a thrillingly good pianist” The New Yorker and for her “…big, gorgeous tone and a mesmerizing touch” The Philadelphia Inquirer, Ms. Li-Cohen has performed in such notable venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and WQXR’s Greene Space in New York, the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia’s Kimmel Performing Arts Center, San Jose’s California Theater, the Helsinki Music Center in Finland, the Grieghallen in Norway and the Berliner Philharmonie in Germany.

             Zhenni is looking forward to her next recording project with Marin Alsop in collaboration with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and has recently appeared as a soloist with the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, Bucks County Symphony Orchestra, Dominican Republic National Orchestra, Johns Hopkins Symphony Orchestra, Lower Merion Symphony Orchestra and Waterloo-Cedar Fall Symphony Orchestras amongst others. 

Deeply committed to the art of recording, Ms. Li-Cohen is passionate about memorializing lesser known works and sharing them with a greater audience as well as traversing the heights of the familiar giants of the repertoire and recently released her second album for the Steinway & Sons label featuring works Sergei Bortkiewicz (“A Letter”), reviewed Gramophone Magazine as “the most consistently beautiful Bortkiewicz recording in the catalogue” and “a must-add to your listening list” American Record Guide; her third and fourth albums featuring Beethoven (Beethoven’s Apotheosis), and traditional Chinese works (Legend of the Phoenix Queen) are upcoming, in addition to a recording project with the Edmonton Chamber Orchestra.

             In addition to her solo career, Zhenni is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of “Opus 71 Concerts”, a multidisciplinary concert series near New York’s Lincoln Center.  She is a deeply devoted chamber musician. She has collaborated with members of the Aeolus, Borromeo, Jasper, Hugo Wolf, and New Orford quartets and has performed at numerous chamber music festivals including Classical Bridge, Fontainebleau Festival, Kneisel Hall, Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival, Music@Menlo, and Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute. Her passion for chamber music led her to co-found ”Fishin’ in C Chamber Music Series”, a diverse chamber concert series in Philadelphia with the aim of bringing music to underserved areas and  “Opus 71 Concerts”.

Earning worldwide recognition as the winner of the 2017 New York Concert Artists Worldwide Debut Audition, Astral Artist’s 2016 National Auditions and the Grieg International Competition in Norway, her performances have been broadcast internationally on Canada National CBC Radio, Chicago’s WFMT Public Radio, Iowa Public Radio, New York’s WQXR, Norwegian National Radio: NPK P2/NPK Klassisk, Philadelphia’s WWFM and WRTI, Texas Public Radio, and West Virginia’s WVTF. Ms. Li-Cohen is currently the Associate Professor of Piano at University of Alberta.

In her spare time, she enjoys learning new languages, looking forward to becoming pentalingual, and traveling and meeting people of different cultures. Ms. Li-Cohen now lives in Manhattan with her husband and two cats, Monkey and Mumu.
Zhenni Li-Cohen is a Steinway Artist.