Shohei Kobayashi | co-Artistic Advisor

THEY / HE

A multi-faceted musician, Shohei Kobayashi synthesizes their experiences as a conductor, ensemble vocalist, and art song interpreter with their insights as a solo singer/songwriter and bandmate to connect and collaborate with music lovers of all backgrounds. Shohei currently leads the choral program and teaches courses in music theory and musicianship at Reed College.

Shohei got their start as a conductor by assisting the choirs at Lewis & Clark College (led by Resonance founder Dr. Katherine FitzGibbon) and First Presbyterian Church of Portland for two years before going on to pursue graduate studies at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with Jerry Blackstone and Eugene Rogers. While a student, Shohei served as assistant conductor for the UMS Choral Union, led by Scott Hanoian. From 2016 to 2020, Shohei helped prepare the 175-member auditioned symphonic chorus for collaborations with Budapest Festival Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Toledo Symphony Orchestra, and Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra on works including Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3 (“Kaddish”), Sibelius’s Snöfrid, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, and Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem. Highlights include directing a surprise Choral Union appearance in Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce and being called up to lead the musicians of the Budapest Festival Orchestra in vocal warm-ups.

Shohei has been selected conducting fellow for numerous workshops, festivals, and masterclasses including Chorus America’s 2018 and 2019 Conducting Academies, Hot Springs Music Festival, National Collegiate Choral Organization’s 2015 and 2017 Conference Masterclasses, Princeton Festival Conducting Masterclass, Interlochen Choral Conducting Institute, and Norfolk Chamber Choir and Choral Conducting Workshop. In previous years, they also attended the 9th Ithaca International Conducting Masterclass, participated in University of Illinois’s Choral Conducting Symposium in Urbana-Champaign, and received the Berkshire Choral International’s Robert Page Conducting Fellowship.

As a professional tenor and ensemble singer, Shohei has sung with ensembles including sounding light, ÆPEX Contemporary Performance, Helmuth Rilling’s Fifth Weimar Bach Academy Chorus, VIR, and Choro in Schola. Shohei currently sings with Resonance Ensemble, Big Mouth Society, and Jecca Jazz Ensemble.

Shohei holds a DMA and MM in Conducting (Choral) from University of Michigan and a BA in Music (composition focus) from Lewis & Clark College.

Since 2013, Shohei has been involved with Resonance in a number of ways from volunteering as a stage hand and sound technician to serving on their board and performing with the ensemble. They join Resonance Ensemble in the 2022-2023 season as a guest conductor and Co-Artistic Advisor.