Ao Li studied singing at the Shandong Normal University. He was a member of the Merola program and Adler program at the San Francisco Opera. His engagements with San Francisco opera includes the roles of Lorenzo in “I Capuleti e I Montecchi” by Bellini, Masetto in “Don Giovanni” and Papageno in “Die Zauberflöte” by Mozart. He has also performed Uberto in Peroglesi's “La serva padrona” and Belcore in “L'elisir d'amore” by Donizetti.

Ao Li won the First Prize at the 2013 Plácido Domingo's Operalia, the World Opera Competition, Verona (Italy), 2013. In 2014 he also became a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

In 2014 and 2015, Ao Li has participated in the Musical Olympus International Festival in St. Petersburg. He was also a participant of the Musical Olympus Gala concert in New York (Carnegie Hall, 2015) and in Moscow (Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, 2015).