One of the first generation of Chinese pianists, Wu Yili (1930-2019) began learning piano at the age of 6. She played Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 1 with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra for the first time in 1949 and received a warm response from the public. Wu became the first piano soloist of the Central Orchestra in 1954. She was honored as the leading national first-class pianist eight years later. In 1983, she went to America to pursue further studies and moved to Singapore in her late years.
Wu is the first compiler and player of the piano accompaniment of the famed Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto.