Blair School of Music first-year Nuoyan “Nora” Li will be featured on NPR’s nationally syndicated From the Top radio program and podcast in early November. Li recently recorded a performance and interview in Turner Recital Hall for the show, which airs on more than 200 stations across the country.
Li was selected as a 2025–26 From the Top Fellow and is one of 20 honorees in the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award Class of 2026. Each year, From the Top selects outstanding pre-collegiate musicians ages 8–18 to participate in its Learning and Media Lab Fellowship and appear on its national broadcast and podcast.
“I am deeply grateful to From the Top for the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award and the training provided through the Learning and Media Lab Fellowship,” Li said. “These programs have been invaluable in helping me develop my musical career. I’m excited to share my music, ideas and life through the performance and interview that will soon air on NPR’s From the Top.”
A graduate of Farragut High School in East Tennessee, she is pursuing a bachelor of music in piano performance at Blair, studying with Professor Heather Conner. Li has appeared at the Mannes and Vivace international piano festivals and earned top honors in competitions held by Vivace, the Bay Area, Denison University and Knoxville.
Li also won the 2025–26 Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Youth Concerto Competition, leading to a February 2026 performance with the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra at the Tennessee Theatre. An avid chamber musician, she has performed at the Heartland Chamber Music Festival in Kansas City, the University of Tennessee and the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts.
Beyond performing, Li teaches piano and advocates for greater access to music education resources among underrepresented communities. Away from the keyboard, she enjoys competing in STEM events, baking pastries and caring for her cat.
For more than 25 years, From the Top has celebrated and supported young musicians through radio broadcasts, podcasts, digital content, fellowships and awards.