Li Yi was born in Pudong, Shanghai in February 1932. Sanxian performer, professor of Ethnic Music Department of Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
Li Yi joined the New Fourth Army with his family at the age of 12. At the age of 14, he was transferred to the Xin'an Tour Group, where he used pictures and musical instruments to carry out anti-Japanese propaganda. He has learned to play the sanxian with Shandong folk rap artists, and learned the sanxian playing skills from Pingtan music. In 1952, Li Yi joined the Shanghai Opera House Band with the army. In 1953, he performed his own transplanted "Eighteen Boards" for the first time, which was highly praised by the music industry.
Since then, he has adapted more than ten pieces of music such as "Big Waves Washing the Sand", "Spring River and Flowers and Moon Nights", "House of Flying Daggers", and "Song on the Plug".
In 1957, professional concerts were held across the country. Li Yi performed the first-ever three-string solo performances such as "Eighteen Boards", "Big Waves and Pottery Sand", "The Water of the Yellow River", "Spring River Flowers and Moonlight Nights" in Tianqiao Theater. A warm welcome from the audience in Beijing. China Central Radio and newspapers published reports such as "Sanxian Expert Li Yi" and "On the Functions of Sanxian".
Li Yi visited and performed in India, Indonesia, Myanmar and other countries, and went to Vienna to participate in the 7th World Youth Festival in 1959 with his superb skills and simple and profound style. In 1960, he performed for Chairman Mao Zedong and was interviewed. In the National Day special column of People's Daily, Li Ling wrote the article "Ten Years of Forests, One Hundred Years of Trees", which reaffirmed Sanxian's solo status.
Li Yi is good at absorbing the strengths of various schools, and boldly learning from the beneficial experience of foreign performing arts. He integrates and thoroughly explores the performance performance contained in Sanxian. In the long-term performance and teaching work of Sanxian, he is committed to developing Sanxian performance skills and performance. force. Its playing timbre is solid and full, technically comprehensive, and has a certain temperament and depth in musical performance.
Since Li Yi started his career in art, he has performed in Eastern Europe, Western Europe, the United States, North Korea and Southeast Asia. In 1993, the North Carolina State Museum and North Carolina State University invited him to lead a delegation of professors from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music to visit the United States for academic and performance exchanges. In 1999, he accepted the invitation of Faust, the governor of Louisiana, to visit the United States again. His personality and skills are well-known overseas, and he is known as the "Grand Master of Sanxian".