ABOUT
Shirley Ly is a self-taught British contemporary classical music composer from Greenwich in London, UK with Chinese and Vietnamese heritage. She has composed over 50 pieces for solo piano / violin / cello, duets, trios, quartets and quintets. She has released 5 albums:
Winds of the East (2025), 9 Lives (2023), Paradise (2023), Blossom (2021), and Impetus (2018) and multiple singles i.e. Benevolence (2025), Olive Tree (2024), Emerald (2023), and London Strive (2023). Her music has been played over a million times across more than 100 countries around the world, including by BBC radio and other radio shows, and is described to be a bridge between classical, romantic, and minimalist music with Eastern and jazz elements. Magic Classical Radio has recently named her as a 'One To Watch' artist. Shirley's music has been performed across a variety of venues, including churches and halls in the UK and overseas. Shirley plays the piano in all of her compositions.
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Shirley's compositions aim to capture her reflections and experiences of nature (i.e. the seasons, cats, swallows, swans, the ocean, turtles), global issues (i.e. climate change and devastating effects of war), living in London, dance, relationships with family and other loved ones, travel (i.e. to Vietnam, Berlin, Amsterdam), and dreams. Winds of the East is her latest album where she has composed works inspired by her grandfather, Tian Chen (1927 - 2014) and her solo travels in Southeast Asia, namely China and Vietnam. Her grandfather was a distinguished fine artist, poet, and photographer from Guangzhou in China, and growing up, Shirley was greatly influenced by his love of the beauty of nature and the world, and his aspirations to capture and show this beauty in the form of art.
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Shirley did not come from a musical family. She began composing when she was a teenager after being inspired by the feelings evoked in a number of renowned films e.g. Cinema Paradiso, the Pianist, Amélie, and by a variety of composers from different backgrounds - her favourites are Ennio Morricone, Chopin, Chen Gang, Yu-Peng Chen, Joe Hisaishi, Yiruma, Eydís Evensen, and many others, particularly from the romantic period. She is continually inspired by female composers who present more diverse musical voices.
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Shirley is open to all commissions and collaborations with artists in different projects. She has been commissioned to compose for film, theatre, weddings, funerals, and other projects. Please feel free to ​contact Shirley here if you are interested in working together.
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Shirley has been featured on many publications, including by Classical Music Magazine, You Rice Me Up, Industry Times, Exulansis, Growth Illustrated, Disrupt Weekly and more.​​
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