Fang-Yi Shen

String Orchestra, Music Appreciation, Piano Class, Applied Cello 

Fang-Yi Shen, Orchestra Director, cello instructor, Music Appreciation teacher, has proven herself in the worlds of chamber music and solo music.  As a performer, she has been called “truly heaven of her playing” and “charming and refreshing” by her audiences in Cincinnati, OH.  Born in Taiwan, Fang-Yi made her first debut to play Édouard Lalo’s Cello Concerto in D in 1994.  She started her musical training since she was 8 years old, including cello, piano and voice, and finished her bachelor degree in National Taiwan Normal University.  In 2001, she moved to the United States and studied with one of the most influential cellists in the twentieth century, Eleonore Schoenfeld, in University of Southern California.  From 2002, she studied with the cellist of LaSalle Quartet, Lee Fiser until 2009, and other amazing cellists, including Norman Johns (Assistant Cello Principal), Andre Emelianoff, Peter Howard (previous Cello Principal of St. Paul Chamber Orchestra), Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and others. In 2009, she got her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in cello performance with minors in music theory and chamber music at University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she was a teaching assistant in music theory and received her Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.  She has participated in many music festivals, including Bowdoin International Music Festival, Banff Music Festival, Lucca Theatre and Opera Music Festival, Accent 08 Music Festival, S. Cecilia Conservatory Music Festival, etc.  As a soloist, she won several international cello competitions including Taiwan International Cello Competition, and got into the alternate finalist in the Andrew International String Competition in 2009. During 1997-2008, she appeared on recitals in Minneapolis (MN), Cincinnati (OH), Richmond (OH), Oneonta (NY), Los Angeles (CA), Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Italy. Her Troy Piano was broadcasted nationally by CBS television for the Sunday Morning Program in June, 2009, and her Troy ensemble won the first prize in the Accent 08 Musical Festival.  Not only performing, she is also passionate about teaching.  Her students described her teaching style as “organized and systematical with the Socratic dialogue.”