Brendan Shea is a sought after soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. By the age of 11, he was performing with orchestras and had performed at Carnegie Hall. He continues to perform regularly with Orchestras and in recitals nationally and internationally, and has competed in many major international competitions including Queen Elisabeth, Carl Nielsen, Sendai, Sibelius, Isang-Yun, and Seoul. His awards span three continents and include Bronze Medal at the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition, Gold Medal and Audience Award at the Chesapeake International Chamber Music Competition, Grand Prize at the Coleman Chamber Music Competition, and 1st place with Honors in the Glazunov International Competition in Paris.
Brendan has performed across the world in collaboration with many world class ensembles and as a soloist. He premiered Frederic Rzewski's Night, Death, and Devil with the Emmy Award winning 8th Blackbird. As a founding member of the award winning Wasmuth Quartet (now Verona) he performed across the United States, Germany, and Japan. He is also present at prestigious festivals and residencies across the globe, including the peerless Encore Chamber Music Festival.
In 2014 he partnered with his wife Yerin Kim to form the violin and piano Shea-Kim Duo, which has competed internationally and performed recitals in Asia, Europe and North America. Brendan served as the Concertmaster at the South Bend Symphony from 2018 to 2021. He currently serves as the Concertmaster of Boise Philharmonic under music director and conductor, Eric Garcia.
In addition to his performance career, Brendan is also a sought after violin teacher and chamber musician. He has been a guest faculty at Oberlin Conservatory, Visiting Professor of the Practice of Violin and Viola at the University of Notre Dame, and was on the faculty of Indiana University, South Bend. He currently is the Violin Professor and Langroise Trio Artist in Residence at the College of Idaho.
