Violinist Brendan Shea

Violinist Brendan Shea

Brendan Shea began violin at the age of 3 in Brussels, Belgium. At the age of 10 Brendan performed Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasie in Carnegie Hall, and the following year made his debut with orchestra at the age of 11 playing Paganini Concerto No. 1 with the Landon Symphonette in Washington DC.

Brendan continues to perform regularly with Orchestras and in recitals nationally and internationally, and has competed in many major international competitions including Queen Elisabeth, Carl Nielsen, Sendai, Sibelius, Isang-Yun, and Seoul. His awards include Bronze Medal at the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition, Gold Medal and Audience Award at the Chesapeake International Chamber Music Competition, Grand Prize at the Coleman Chamber Music Competition, and 1st place with Honors in the Glazunov International Competition in Paris. 

Brendan has performed across the world in collaboration with many world class ensembles and as a soloist. He premiered Frederic Rzewski’s Night, Death, and Devil with the Emmy Award winning 8th Blackbird. As a founding member of the award winning Wasmuth Quartet(now Verona) he performed across the United States, Germany, and Japan. His solo career has taken him across the globe as well, with performances in major venues in Europe and Asia, and across North America.

In 2014 he partnered with his wife Yerin Kim to form the Shea-Kim Duo, which has competed internationally and performed recitals in Asia, Europe and North America. Their performances have been broadcasted by Klara Continuo in Belgium, PBC in South Korea, and WUFT Classic in Florida. Their first CD was recently released by Ark Studio in Seoul, South Korea. 

In addition to his performance career, Brendan is also a sought after violin teacher and chamber musician. He taught violin and chamber music at the Mahanaim School in Huntington, New York and taught violin at Oberlin Conservatory in the spring of 2017 as a guest faculty. He also joined the Euclid Quartet in fall of 2016 as second violinist, and the faculty of Indiana University South Bend. 

Brendan Shea is a former student of Zakhar Bron and Milan Vitek. His mentors during his doctoral studies at Stony Brook  include Jennifer Frautschi, Hagai Shaham, Philip Setzer, Arnaud Sussman, and many wonderful musicians from Oberlin, Indiana, and New York. He currently plays on a 2000 Samuel Zygmuntowicz on loan to him from​ Angela Ahn. 

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