The people stewarding our next chapter.

Since joining The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 2019, Ms. Shen has established herself as a distinguished orchestral musician. Prior to her appointment, she performed with several leading orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, New World Symphony, and Montclair Orchestra. Throughout her career, she has served as concertmaster and principal violin in numerous distinguished ensembles, including the New World Symphony, New England Conservatory Philharmonia, New England Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, Mannes Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra.

In addition to her performing career, Ms. Shen is deeply committed to music education. She serves on the faculty of Mannes Prep, where she teaches young violinists, and is the Founder, Artistic Director, and Executive Director of Overture Music Intensive (OMI). Through both roles, she is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of musicians by creating educational experiences that combine artistic excellence, mentorship, collaboration, and meaningful community engagement.

Ms. Shen has performed in many of the world's leading concert venues, including Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium, Boston Symphony Hall, Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall in Singapore, Hong Kong Arts Centre, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Shanghai Concert Hall, and the Shanghai Oriental Art Center.

An active chamber musician, Ms. Shen has participated in prestigious festivals including the Yellow Barn Music Festival and the Perlman Music Program. She has collaborated with distinguished artists from the Cleveland Quartet, Emerson String Quartet, Juilliard String Quartet, Takács Quartet, and Peabody Trio.

Born in Bengbu, China, Ms. Shen began studying the violin at the age of four. Her principal teachers include Lei Fang, Donald Weilerstein, and David Chan. She earned a Bachelor of Music from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, a Master of Music and Graduate Diploma from the New England Conservatory, and a Professional Studies Diploma from the Mannes School of Music.

Qianru’s honors include First Prize at the 2023 Naftzger Prize Audition; Second Prize at the 2023 Hellam Young Artists Competition, where she also received the Stephen and Linda Paganini-Brite Award; and Second Prize at the Ann & Charles Eisemann International Competition. She has spent her summers performing at the Verbier Festival, Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop, Tanglewood Music Center, Music Academy of the West, and Morningside Music Bridge. She has also participated in the DeLay-Starling Violin Symposium, IMS Masterclass at Prussia Cove, and the New York String Orchestra Seminar.

Alongside her commitment to chamber music, Qianru is deeply dedicated to nonprofit music education and community-based music initiatives. She has appeared on the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players concert series and with Orpheus Reflections, an initiative of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra that brings live music to people living with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers. Qianru is also a UN Chamber Music Society artist; she has performed at the headquarters of the United Nations and recorded albums for the Closing Ceremony of the Global Congress of Victims of Terrorism and the Concert for Climate Action. She also serves as Secretary of the Board of Directors of Overture Music Intensive, and as Director of Operations for its summer education program.

Qianru has performed with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of New York, and Princeton Symphony Orchestra, and has served as concertmaster of the Verbier Festival Orchestra, MSM Symphony, and Music Academy of the West Festival Orchestra. An aspiring violin teacher, she has seen her students admitted to the Royal College of Music in the UK, Manhattan School of Music, and Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in China.

As a soloist and chamber musician, Jiawei gave a solo viola premiere at National Sawdust and has performed with the New Juilliard Ensemble, AXIOM, and Juilliard ChamberFest. She has held an adjunct faculty position at New York University, coached at the Mannes School of Music Prep Division, and was director of chamber music at the Thurnauer School of Music in New Jersey.

Jiawei is pursuing a Doctor of Music degree at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with Professor Li-Kuo Chang. She earned a master's degree from The Juilliard School as a student of Paul Neubauer, and bachelor's degrees in philosophy from Bard College and in viola performance from the Bard Conservatory of Music, studying with Ira Weller and Michael Tree. She also holds a Professional Studies Diploma from Mannes School of Music and an Artist Diploma from New York University. For three years she was a marketing consultant for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's Chinese audience outreach program, which brought more than 2,000 new audience members from Chinese communities in the New York area.