Sharon’s Life as a Musician
•Violist •Conductor •Chamber Musician •Teacher
Dr. Sharon Eng is a seasoned international strings educator, clinician, chamber recitalist and conductor who has performed world premieres of solo viola works written for her and has appeared as guest soloist, chamber musician and master class clinician in many countries. She co-founded Classical Nuances in 1996, a unique trio comprised of piano, oboe and viola, which continues to perform throughout Asia, Australia, both coasts of North America, and Europe and the Middle East.
During her 15-year tenure at Jakarta International School as director of its MS and HS strings programs, Eng was responsible for training up to 250 beginning through advanced student string players. Two of her flagship string orchestras performed for thousands of appreciative music lovers on worldwide tours to Bangkok, Budapest, London, Manila, Salzburg, Shanghai, Singapore, Rome, Vienna and cities throughout the Indonesian archipelago. While living in Indonesia, Eng Eng was professor of violin and viola at University Pelita Harapan Conservatory of Music, and advisor to the Jakarta International Arts, Music and Cultural Festival (JakArt), and Yayasan International Music Institute.
Her long career as a violist has encompassed opera, orchestra, recordings, contemporary music, chamber music, and solo engagements, including contracts with the American Ballet Theatre, New York City Opera, Kenedy Center Orchestra, Washington 20th Century consort, and the Bennington Vermont Contemporary Music Forum. She has performed solo viola works, and with orchestras at the Athens Opera House, Queensland Conservatory of Music; New York's Lincoln Center, the Seoul Korea Performng Arts complex, and Washington D.C.'s National Cathedral among many of the world's stages.
Eng currently resides in Portland, Oregon where she maintains violin/viola teaching studios in Portland and Vancouver; works with young string students at two Portland Parks and Recreation centers; performs with the Raphael Spiro String Quartet and Madrona Viola Duo; and freelances in the region. She has appeared in collaborative recitials on both coasts of the United States, played two tours of the major cities in China as co-leader of Sinfonietta Poland, and since 2003 has served on the faculty of the International Music Institute and Festival (IMIF) held summers at St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. From 2015 through 2017, Eng was Music Director and Conductor of the Oregon Pro Arte Youth Chamber Orchestra. She is President of the Oregon Viola Society (since 2016).