Euan Shields

Founder & Principal Conductor, Strata Orchestra

Born in Japan and raised in the United States, Euan Shields is a conductor of electrifying energy and precision, navigating the most demanding scores with what The Guardian described as control that keeps “hyperactivity just the right side of dangerous driving.” He serves as Assistant Conductor of The Hallé, Music Director of the Hallé Youth Orchestra, Associate Conductor at the Sun Valley Music Festival, and founder of the Strata Orchestra.

Recent highlights with The Hallé include the orchestra’s Nottingham season finale at the Royal Concert Hall, a programme of Janáček’s Taras Bulba, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony. ReviewsGate wrote that “Euan Shields’ vision of the epic nature of the Janacek work and his control over this vast, intensely colourful, highly detailed canvas were impressive throughout.” At The Hallé’s John Adams Festival, he conducted the composer’s Chamber Symphony in a performance reviewed in The Guardian, with John Adams himself praising Shields for giving “one of the best performances I’ve ever heard” of the work.

His Japanese debuts include the Osaka Symphony Orchestra, with Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, and the New Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo, with Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27.

A champion of contemporary composers, Shields uses his role with the Hallé Youth Orchestra to bring new voices to British audiences. He has led UK premieres of works by Yu Kuwabara, Katie Jenkins, Hannah Ishizaki and Unsuk Chin, and commissioned Mark-Anthony Turnage’s “Artist in the Rain” for the Hallé Youth Orchestra, which received its world premiere in March 2026.

Founded in 2026, the Strata Orchestra is a chamber ensemble dedicated to excavating the layers of history, influence and meaning within each score it performs. Its inaugural concert featured Mahler’s Fifth Symphony in a chamber arrangement for twenty-five players.

Shields was awarded first prize at the 2023 Siemens Hallé International Conducting Competition, which led to his current appointments with the orchestra. Sir Mark Elder, Conductor Emeritus, praised him at the time: “I was very impressed the moment I saw Euan working; his whole conducting approach is concentrated, very individual and very intense.” In 2024 he received second prize at the Korean National Symphony Orchestra International Conducting Competition in Seoul, and he has been supported by the Solti Foundation with its Career Assistance Award for three consecutive years (2023 to 2025).

At The Hallé, Shields is assistant and cover conductor to Principal Conductor Kahchun Wong and Conductor Emeritus Sir Mark Elder, and has held the same role for a wide range of other leading conductors, including John Adams, Thomas Adès, Jonathon Heyward, Xian Zhang, Giancarlo Guerrero, Roderick Cox, Anja Bihlmaier and Chloé van Soeterstède.

He has also appeared with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, the South Denmark Philharmonic, the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, the Biel Solothurn Symphony Orchestra and the Gstaad Festival Orchestra. His collaborations with soloists include Simone Lamsma, Imogen Cooper, Ning Feng, Tom Borrow, Kyohei Sorita and Yasuko Otani.

Shields studied orchestral conducting at The Juilliard School under David Robertson, earning his Master of Music in 2023. Before Juilliard, he completed his Bachelor of Music at UCLA, supported by the Peter Falk Scholarship, studying cello with Antonio Lysy and conducting with Neal Stulberg.

His musical path began on the cello in Tokyo at age eight, later taking him to the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra during high school. There, he discovered his passion for conducting, founding the San Francisco Youth Chamber Orchestra and organizing public concerts across the city. This early experience continues to shape his collaborative approach and commitment to community building through music.