Virtual Calvin January Series: Pearl Shangkuan

Pearl Shangkuan: Tuning Our Minds, Ears, and Hearts to Sing God's Grace: Reflections of a Conductor

Pearl Shangkuan is a highly sought-after conductor, lecturer, and clinician. She’s led performances, seminars, and workshops on six continents, and she is a beloved professor and the director of choral activities at Calvin University.

She’s conducted multiple performances at Carnegie Hall and other major concert halls throughout the U.S. She’s served on the jury of several international choir competitions and has led conducting master classes for the ACDA national conference, Chorus America conferences, the University of Michigan, the University of Illinois Choral Conducting Symposium, and many other prominent institutions. She will reflect on many of these experiences, and most importantly, the ways God’s grace was abundant throughout her conducting career.

Pearl plans to retire from Calvin in the spring of 2024 but will continue collaborating with the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and contributing as the music editor of its choral series. She is the national president-elect of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and she’ll begin working as the chorus director of the Grand Rapids Symphony and editor of Hinshaw Music.

The January Series is a FREE 15-day award-winning lecture series that takes place each year at Calvin University.  The series aims to cultivate deep thought and conversations about important issues of the day, to inspire cultural renewal and make us better global citizens in God's world. We are thankful to share this special gift with our local, regional, and global community, thanks to our underwriters.