Q&A with Angela Qianwen Shen ’14 MM, ’16 GD: On the Met Opera Orchestra

Angela Qianwen Shen ’14 MM, ’16 GD recently won a position in the first violin section of her “dream orchestra,” the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. In this Q&A, she shares her reflections on the new role:

Congratulations on your new position in the Met Opera Orchestra. What are you looking forward to in the coming season?

Every time I come to the Met, I am so touched and moved; the energy from all the singers and musicians make the characters so lively.

I'm so excited to play all the beautiful arias and great operas, and to share my feeling with audiences.

I'm looking forward to playing with all the great singers, and conductors, especially our music director Mr. Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

I'm also very happy to join the Met Opera orchestra family, and can't wait to play with all my colleagues, especially my former teacher Mr. David Chan (our concertmaster) and my friend Quan Yuan, another NEC alum. Quan Yuan and I were in the same studio, and we played string quartets together.

How did you feel when you received the news?

I feel like I am still dreaming. The Met Opera is my dream orchestra. I am very lucky to have gotten in.

How did you prepare for your audition? 

The audition was after the New World Symphony's tour to Carnegie Hall, and I actually didn't have much time to practice for it. Instead, I listened to a lot of recordings, hearing different versions.

I would write down the scene of each excerpt, and really experience the feelings and characters. I also sang the excerpts a lot; I felt it's very helpful for exploring my feeling for the music.

How did your time at NEC help you prepare?

NEC has changed my life a lot.

First and foremost is my former teacher Mr. Weilerstein. Without him, I wouldn't be where I am today. His playing and his lessons are still inspiring me every day and whenever I play the violin.

He taught me to think about what's inside the music, how to convey my feelings to other people.

As a person, Mr. Weilerstein is so nice and warm. He's always supported me, encouraged me, and helped me to get through hard times. I always remind myself to be a better musician and better person, like him.

Second, the chamber music experiences from NEC taught me to listen to other people more, and to consider how to communicate. I think of orchestra music like a very big chamber music group. I listen to other voices, watch the section leader and conductor, and then play with them.

Third is the orchestra experiences. I built up my orchestra repertoire when I was at NEC, and learned a lot from playing with great conductors, especially Mr. Wolff. He could make difficult things come together very easily. When I got a chance to play as concertmaster, it made me learn not only my parts, but also the full score. It's very helpful to know what the whole orchestra is doing, and to listen to the different voices.