Shing Gao currently attends Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, the number one public high school in the United States. He started his musical training by taking piano lessons at a young age, winning multiple awards in the Virginia Concerto and Spring Festival Competitions before the age of 10. In middle school, Shing began studying violin performance under the tutelage of Dr. Shearom Chung of the Peabody Conservatory. He participated in the Mclean Youth Orchestra and had the opportunity to perform at the 2016 Virginia Music Educator’s Association conference as a soloist. As a freshman, Shing auditioned for a seat in the Senior District Orchestra program among over 100 other competing violinists, placing fourth overall and becoming the highest-ranked freshman auditionee. He was also selected to become a member of the American Youth Ph
ilharmonic Orchestras, serving first as the Assistant Concertmaster of AYSO before joining AYP, the most advanced ensemble in the program, where he receives world-class training and performance experience alongside professionals. After continuing his music education under the pedagogy of Lynne Denig, Shing currently holds the Level 10+ Artist rank in the ASTA Certificate Advancement Program for violin performance, earning top marks for the past two years. He has even pursued various virtual performance opportunities and personal projects in 2020, including the Great Composers International Competition and the Reddit Symphony Orchestra for which he recently auditioned and was selected as a soloist. Shing hopes to continue his musical studies after high school while pursuing a postsecondary education in the biomedical field.
