Dr. Sharon Eng is a seasoned international strings educator, clinician, chamber recitalist and conductor. She has performed world premieres of solo viola works and has appeared as guest soloist, chamber musician and master class clinician in 11 countries on six continents. She completed her Bachelor and Master degrees in viola performance at the Juilliard School where she was a five-year scholarship student of William Lincer and Paul Doktor.
She was co-founder of Classical Nuances, a unique trio comprised of piano, oboe and viola that performed throughout Asia, Australia, and parts of North America, Europe and the Middle East over a 15 year span. A number of composers have written music for her, including renowned Indonesian composer, Mrs. Trisutji Kamal, whose three solo viola works and sonata for viola and piano have enjoyed performances throughout the world where they have garnered critical acclaim by audiences and press alike.
During her 1996-2010 tenure at Jakarta International School as director of its MS and HS strings programs, Eng was responsible for training 175 beginning through advanced string students enrolled annually from Grade 6 through College-preparatory level. She conducted two flagship string orchestras–the JIS Sinfonia and the JIS Symphonic Strings in performances to thousands of appreciative music lovers on their worldwide tours to Bangkok, Budapest, London, Manila, Salzburg, Shanghai, Singapore, Rome, Vienna and other cities.
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, Kennedy Center Orchestra, Washington 20th Century Consort, and the Bennington Vermont Contemporary Music Forum. She has performed solo viola and with orchestras at the Athens Opera House; Queensland Conservatory of Music in Brisbane, Australia; New York Lincoln Center; Seoul Korea Performing Arts Complex; and Washington D.C.’s National Cathedral among many of the world’s stages. Dr. Eng was professor of violin and viola at University Pelita Harapan Conservatory of Music, and adviser to Indonesian nonprofit organizations including JakArt International Arts, Music and Cultural Festival, Yayasan Music International, and more.
Eng currently resides in Portland, Oregon where she maintains a violin/viola teaching studio; teaches at Multnomah Arts Center; performs with the Raphael Spiro String Quartet and Madrona Viola Duo; and freelances in the region. Among recent performances have been chamber music recitals in Washington D.C., Maryland and Pennsylvania with the American Virtuosi; collaborative recitals in Jakarta; chamber music with Bravo! Vancouver with 400 in the audience in a single concert venue; and two tours of the major cities in China as principal/co-leader of Sinfonietta Poland. Since 2003, she has served as senior faculty at the International Music Institute and Festival (IMIF–http://www.imif.us), Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Dr. Eng also holds a Ph.D. in business and management focusing on nonprofit organizational studies (University of South Australia), and currently maintains the distinction of Adjunct Associate Professor, Faculty of Government and Business, University of Canberra, Australia.