Pearl Shangkuan

Dr. Pearl Shangkuan has been described as one whose “work as a conductor, educator, and scholar is celebrated globally, and her leadership continues to inspire musicians and choral communities worldwide.” She is a highly sought-after conductor, lecturer and clinician who has and continues to lead performances and workshops on six continents. She is currently the National Vice President of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), having previously served on the Board of Directors of Chorus America, as well as ACDA central region president and ACDA Michigan state president. The Chorus Director of the Grand Rapids Symphony since 2004, she is Professor Emerita of Music at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

Appointed in 2022 as the Editor of Hinshaw Music, a major choral music publisher in North America, she also has a signature choral series with earthsongs and is the music editor of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship choral series published by GIA. She has conducted several times at Carnegie Hall and other major concert halls in the US and was an invited guest lecturer at the World Symposium for Choral Music held in Seoul, South Korea in 2014. Her guest engagements regularly take her to Europe, Asia, and across North America. In the 2025-26 season, she’ll be returning to New Zealand, South America, and South Africa as well.  

Dr. Shangkuan has served on the jury of several international choral competitions in Europe and Asia and has led conducting masterclasses for the ACDA national and Chorus America conferences. She has also been an artist-in-residence for various prominent graduate music programs and institutions across the US. She has conducted numerous All State choirs, ACDA national and division honor choirs, and choral festivals nationally and internationally and has headlined several ACDA state and other professional conferences. She has commissioned and premiered numerous choral works and her choirs have performed at ACDA national, division and state conferences.  

The Michigan YWCA honored her with its Arts Tribute Award in 2007. In 2013, Michigan ACDA honored her with the Maynard Klein Choral Award for “artistic excellence and lifetime leadership in choral music.” In 2020, she received a Calvin University Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2023, the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO) gave her its Honorary Life Member Award for “distinguished leadership and extraordinary service to the choral community, both nationally and internationally.”