Li Shutong Photo: Courtesy of Bard College Conservatory of Music
Li, 34-year-old conducting teacher at Bard College was killed on February 11 after exiting his broken-down car on the Taconic State Parkway, according to a statement from the New York State Police.
Li was struck by a passing truck while outside of his vehicle, which was "partially parked on the shoulder" in Clinton at mile marker 59, the police said in a statement.
He was transported to Mid-Hudson Regional Hospital with serious injuries and later succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased.
Li was changing a flat tire on his way home from a rehearsal, according to Slipped Disc, a classical music news website.
"He died peacefully, surrounded by his family members, including his wife and young son, his father, his cousin, and his mother- and father-in-law," the Bard College Conservatory of Music released a statement on its social media pages. "Shutong was an essential member of the Conservatory; a wonderful musician, a dedicated teacher, a loving husband and father, and a good friend."
As reported by the Yangtze Evening News, Li Shutong was born in 1991 in Ordos in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. He initially studied engineering but had a lifelong passion for music. After graduation, he shifted his focus to music and went to the University of New Mexico in the United States in 2013, where he earned a bachelor's degree in music. In 2019, he enrolled in the graduate program in conducting at the Bard College Conservatory of Music, one of the top music conservatories in the United States. After graduating in 2021, he was immediately hired by the Bard College US-China Music Institute as an assistant conductor, responsible for directing the Bard Chinese Ensemble. A year later, he was promoted to music director. The ensemble is renowned for blending Chinese and Western instruments to perform Chinese music.
Global Times
