Perform at the Highest Level
Shenandoah's music programs provide you with professional-level training for your career in the performing arts. Hone your performance skills in classes and lessons taught by distinguished artist faculty. Conservatory students enrolled in instrumental and vocal studies routinely gain acceptance into prestigious graduate schools throughout the country and abroad. They attend such respected programs as the Chautauqua Institute, Kneisel Hall, Aspen Music Festival, The Pierre Monteux School, Adamont and the Idyllwild Summer Program. Many of our graduates hold positions with national and international symphony orchestras and opera companies. Shenandoah's renowned composition faculty members specialize in new music, and their work is performed worldwide. Students' original works are also performed in ensemble and solo settings.
Ensembles
Music at Shenandoah
Shenandoah’s music programs provide you with professional-level training for your career in the performing arts. Hone your performance skills in classes and lessons taught by distinguished artist faculty. Conservatory students enrolled in instrumental and vocal studies routinely gain acceptance into prestigious graduate schools throughout the country and abroad. They attend such respected programs as the Chautauqua Institute, Kneisel Hall, Aspen Music Festival, The Pierre Monteux School, Adamont and the Idyllwild Summer Program. Many of our graduates hold positions with national and international symphony orchestras and opera companies.
Music News

Innovation and Creativity Bring Performances to Life
Rewarding and reaffirming — those are two of three words that Courtney Reilly, executive director of performances and engagement at Shenandoah Conservatory, used to describe the past 10 months. And it goes almost without saying, this word as well: ... Continue Reading Innovation and Creativity Bring Performances…

Article Co-written by Stepniak Published in Inside Higher Ed
“A Case for Mischief Makers,” an article co-written by Shenandoah Conservatory Dean and Professor of Music Michael Stepniak, Ed.D., and Dean of the Conservatory at Lawrence University Conservatory of Music Brian Pertl, Ph.D., was published by Inside ... Continue Reading Article Co-written by Stepniak Published…

Violist Choi ’22, with Seoul Quartet, Wins 2020 Manhattan Competition
Violist Shi-Young Choi ’22 (Master of Music in Performance) — along with her ensemble colleagues of Seoul Quartet, which includes two of her sisters — won the 2020 Manhattan Competition. Winners will perform in Carnegie Hall in 2021. Choi is a ... Continue Reading Violist Choi ’22, with Seoul…
Music Alumni

McCormick ’01, ’03, ’09 Featured in Film Honoring the Black Fiddlers of Monticello
David McCormick ’01, ’03, ’09 (Bachelor of Music in Music Education, Master of Music in Performance, Artist Diploma) of the Early Music Access Project, based in Charlottesville, Virginia, is featured in a film, currently in production, honoring the ... Continue Reading McCormick ’01, ’03, ’09 Featured…

O’Konski Named VASTA New Orchestra Teacher of the Year
Violist Laura O'Konski is the recipient of the Virginia String Teachers Association (VASTA) Award for New Orchestra Teacher of the Year. O'Konski currently serves as the director of orchestra and chorus at Liberty High School in Bealeton, Virginia, ... Continue Reading O’Konski Named VASTA New Orchestra…

Fiorello ’13 Music Directs in Chicago’s Porchlight Music Theatre’s Newest Virtual Production
David Fiorello ’13 (Master of Music in Conducting) is the music director of “New Faces Sing Broadway 1987” in the first virtual installment of Porchlight Music Theatre’s popular News Faces Sing Broadway series. “New Faces Sing Broadway 1987” was ... Continue Reading Fiorello ’13 Music Directs in…
Music Faculty
Shenandoah Conservatory’s prestigious music faculty are active, supportive and highly networked professionals. They perform roles at the Metropolitan Opera, conduct Grammy Award-winning choirs, compose music and serve on international competition juries. The faculty perform as soloists or guest artists in classical and jazz idioms, chamber ensembles and orchestras throughout the United States and abroad. Artist faculty are in residence at prestigious summer festivals, including Brevard, Kneisel Hall, Aspen Music Festival, the Pierre Monteux School, Interlochen and Adamont. Shenandoah’s Conservatory faculty are as passionate about performance as they are about the art of teaching.
ShenCoLAB
Shenandoah Conservatory turns over the programming and facilities to its students for a week of unbridled exploration, collaboration and creativity.
ShenCoLAB is the only such week of its magnitude and scope offered by a university performing arts program in the United States.
The week culminates in an extraordinary event: the Festival of Arts, Ideas & Exploration, which featured 27 performances and five presentations in the inaugural year!
We're an All-Steinway School
Great music stirs the heart and inspires the soul, and Steinway pianos are celebrated as the instruments used by renowned artists to cultivate their talent and produce great music. Similarly, uncompromising excellence in performing arts education sparks the imagination and inspires the future.
