Heart of the Dragon Ensemble

Jiang Li showed his musical gift at an early age. His first performance was an acting role as a principal character in a famous Chinese new opera in the Shenzhen City Celebration Concert at the age of 6. He became a soloist accordion player for the “Baoan” Art Troupe when he was 16. During the early 80’s, he became the first modern Chinese musician that worked for the first foreign owned hotel in Shenzhen in southern China. Within a very short time he had progressed to form his first band which combined Chinese traditional instruments and western instruments together. It was the first modern pop band in Shenzhen, and it was believed to be the finest band in Southern China in the early 80s.

After Jiang Li completed his degree in music composition at the Xinghai Music University, he worked as a composer for various radio stations and record companies in the south of China, including China Record Company in Guang Dong.

In February 1987, as a composer and band leader, he lead his band and represented Shenzhen City travelling to Holland, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom on tour. He then worked as a composer, computer programmer, and sound engineer for “Music City” studio in Hong Kong.

Jiang Li came to England in 1990 and studied Music Technology at Huddersfield Technical College. Since then he has continued to write, perform and teach music within a wide range of communities. As a workshop leader, he runs Chinese traditional music workshops for schools and other educational establishments. Within his role as a founder of China People Promotions, he actively promotes Chinese culture and Chinese traditional arts. (www.chinapeoplepromotions.org). A Northampton based not-for-profit organisation promoting Chinese arts and culture throughout UK.

Jiang Li’s work involves creating new music that combines Chinese traditional music and western styles, often using the aid of technology. A good example is the East Meets West Project. By using the latest internet and digital recording technology, musicians from China and the UK joined together to compose new pieces of music online in realtime on Chinese New Year’s day in February 2002. In 2003, Jiang Li’s work in his field and his creativity were acknowledged and he was awarded a three year fellowship from NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) to develop his Global Musical Collaboration Network. Jiang Li’s ambition is to use the latest technology to provide professional musicians and young people opportunities to work with one another from far distances and from different cultural backgrounds. Jiang Li is particularly interested in the link up between China and the West.

Jiang Li founded Heart of the Dragon Ensemble in the late 90s. The members of the group are professional musicians, dancers, acrobats and other artists. He also writes, records, and produces music for Heart of the Dragon Ensemble, as well as other musicians.