Dr. Victor Shen (沈新欽博士)
Identity Snapshot
- English: Dr. Victor Shen
- Chinese: 沈新欽博士
- Era: —
- Geography: Tainan, Taiwan
- Core roles: professor, educator
- Source: TAH Foundation Who’s Who
Victor Shen, a native of Taiwan, began studying music theory and voice at the age of 14. He has received several first prize awards in music competitions in Taiwan. He holds a B.M. in voice from the University of Chinese Culture, Taiwan, and a M.M. in choral conducting from the Westminster Choir College, in Princeton, New Jersey. He is also a DMA candidate in choral conducting at University of Maryland.
Biography
沈新欽 (Victor Shen), a Tainan native, is the son of the artist 沈哲哉. He built a dual career as a choral conductor and music educator across Taiwan and the United States.
Teaching. He joined the faculty of the Department of Music at Tunghai University from 1992, later taught in the Music Department at Kaohsiung Normal University (where he became Professor), and held music faculty posts at the University of Chinese Culture, including Huakang Arts School and Tainan Home Economics Junior College. He was a guest professor at Dickinson University’s Blue Mountain Music Summer Camp (2003) and a guest conductor and lecturer at the Beijing Conservatory of Music (1997).
Conducting. He founded the New Era Group (台中新世紀合唱文教中心) in Taichung as its music director and served as music director of the Bel Canto Opera Company and Bel Canto Opera Chorus in New York. His conducting posts have included the Taipei Philharmonic Chorus, Taipei Chin-Suey Chorus (金穗合唱團), Taiwan University Chorus, Festival Chorus of Central Taiwan Universities, Taiwanese Symphonic Chorus, Chinese-American Choral Ensemble, Rutgers University Queens Choral, Vox Nova (NJ), Xiaofong Arts Group, Chin Yun Chorus, Taiwanese Festival Chorus of Greater New York, Yue Yue Chorus (guest), Trenton Children’s Chorus (from 2004), and the Greater Trenton Symphony Orchestra (guest). He also hosted a choral-music program on Taichung Classical Radio Station.
Education
- Chinese Culture Univ. — B.A., Music Voice
- Westminster Choir College — M.A., Music Choral Conducting
- Univ. of Maryland — 1996-1998 — DMA Candidate in Choral Conducting
Employment
- Dept. of Music, Tunghai University — Assistant Professor, Part-time Teacher — University of Maryland Chorus — Assistant Commander — (1996-) — Dept. of Music, National Kaohsiung Normal University — Professor — University of Chinese Culture (Huakang Arts School / Tainan Home Economics Junior College) — Music Faculty — Bel Canto Opera Company, New York — Music Director — Tunghai University, Music Department — Faculty — (1992-) — Kaohsiung Normal University (National Sun Yat-sen University / Zhongshan University), Music Department — Faculty — (1992-) — Beijing Conservatory of Music — Guest Conductor and Lecturer — (1997-1997) — New Era Group (台中新世紀合唱文教中心), Taichung — Founder / Music Director — Taichung Classical Radio Station — Program Host (choral music) — Dickinson University Blue Mountain Music Summer Camp — Guest Professor — (2003-2003) — Trenton Children’s Chorus — Conductor / Faculty — (2004-) — Vox Nova (NJ) — Musical Director — Chinese-American Choral Ensemble — Conductor — Rutgers University Queens Choral — Conductor — Community — Taiwanese Symphonic Chorus — Conductor — Taiwan University Chorus — Conductor — Festival Chorus of Central Taiwan Universities — Conductor — Taipei Philharmonic Chorus — Conductor — Taipei Chin-Suey Chorus (金穗合唱團) — Conductor — Bel Canto Opera Chorus, New York — Conductor — Taiwanese Festival Chorus of Greater New York — Conductor — Xiaofong Arts Group — Conductor — Chin Yun Chorus — Conductor — Yue Yue Chorus — Guest Conductor — Greater Trenton Symphony Orchestra — Guest Conductor
Family
- Father: 沈哲哉
Role in the Community (absorbed 2026-09-14 from our own corpus)
- Our own memoir 2014 records 沈新欽 among the 14 shareholders of Shogun 18, the second 將軍 (Shogun) Japanese restaurant in New Jersey (opened 1985-12-17) — a cross-holding of the NJ Taiwanese community circle alongside 李正三, 張秋南, 林為裕, 板倉健二 and others.
- Same memoir: the shareholders hired 沈新欽 to manage Shogun 18 after struggling through seven managers in eighteen years; he later left to manage the larger 將軍27 (Shogun 27). This restaurant-entrepreneur phase in NJ sits alongside — and predates/dovetails with — his US choral-conducting posts (Trenton, Rutgers, Vox Nova); the TAH press-kit bios omit it entirely.
- TAH corpus profile pages: [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/whos-who-2242-victor-shen|TAH #2242 encyclopedia entry]] and [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/116-victor-shen-e6-b2-88-e6-96-b0-e6-ac-bd-conductor-201501|TAH #116, ‘Victor Shen 沈新欽, Conductor’ (2015/01)]].
Timeline (absorbed 2026-09-10 from the education/employment tables on this page)
- Age 14 — began studying music theory and voice; later won first prizes in Taiwan music competitions
- B.A. Music Voice, Chinese Culture University, Taiwan
- M.A. Music Choral Conducting, Westminster Choir College, Princeton NJ
- 1992– — faculty, Dept. of Music, Tunghai University; later faculty, Kaohsiung Normal University (National Kaohsiung Normal University), Professor
- 1996–1998 — DMA candidate in choral conducting, University of Maryland (also Assistant Commander, University of Maryland Chorus)
- 1997 — guest conductor and lecturer, Beijing Conservatory of Music
- Founder / music director, New Era Group (台中新世紀合唱文教中心), Taichung; music director, Bel Canto Opera Company & Chorus, New York; program host, Taichung Classical Radio Station (choral music)
- 2003 — guest professor, Dickinson University Blue Mountain Music Summer Camp
- 2004– — conductor/faculty, Trenton Children’s Chorus; also musical director Vox Nova (NJ) and conductor of numerous choruses in Taiwan and the US (per employment table)