“Dr. Shen tells Chinese stories with his international musical language beautifully” – Sohu Music.

Dr. Duo Shen has been the Assistant Conductor of the Grand Rapids Symphony (GRS) and the Music Director of the Grand Rapids Youth Symphony and Classical Orchestra (GRYS&CO) since 2022. During his first two seasons with GRS, Shen curated and conducted over 70 concerts and programs, ranging from chamber concert series, classical runouts, pop runouts, children's concerts, movie concerts, pop concerts, and special concerts. In the 2024-25 season, Shen will make his subscription debut at Devos Hall with the Grand Rapids Symphony, performing with renowned double bassist Joseph Conyers.

Shen has served as assistant conductor to esteemed conductors such as Marcelo Lehninger, JoAnn Falletta, Carlos Kalmar, Vinay Parameswaran, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Ruth Reinhardt, Tianyi Lu, Nicholas McGegan, and Robert Spano. In 2022, immediately upon graduation, he was hired as a staff conductor at the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM), where he served as rehearsal conductor, assistant conductor, and cover conductor while leading subscription concerts. Additionally, Shen has been a cover conductor for the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra.

A passionate violinist, Shen has been praised as a “violin virtuoso” for his performance with the Capital City Symphony in Washington, D.C. As a member of the Northern Lights Music Festival, he led the orchestra as concertmaster and performed numerous chamber music and solo concerts. He also founded and toured with the Beijing-based piano trio "Tongyan" throughout China.

As a music teacher and administrator, Shen served as the Assistant General Manager and Dean of the Students at the Master Players Festival, a two-week music festival for domestic and international music students. His duties included facilitating day-to-day operations, managing student life, giving violin lessons, and assisting guest conductors and artists.

Shen’s conducting mentors include Vinay Parameswaran, Carlos Kalmar, JoAnn Falletta, Marcelo Lehninger, Carl Topilow, and the late Michael Jinbo. He has collaborated with orchestras such as the Grand Rapids Symphony, Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra, University of Delaware Symphony Orchestra, New Symphony Orchestra (Bulgaria), and Pazardjik Symphony Orchestra (Bulgaria).

Shen’s innovative programming in a variety of concert settings has been praised by many. His special programs for Blue Lake Camps, “A New Imagination of Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony” and “A Day with Symphony,” received positive reviews from the audiences. His audience-friendly approach to concerts was highlighted in a recent review by Local Spins as "passionate" and "a talented individual."

Shen holds a Professional Studies Diploma in Orchestral Conducting from the Cleveland Institute of Music, a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Violin from the University of Maryland, College Park, and Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Violin Performance from the University of Delaware.

Updated Aug. 2024