Award-winning Mexican conductor and educator Felipe Tristán is known for bringing lively musical prowess to the podium. He has worked with orchestras around the world and currently serves as conductor with the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra, Teatro Grattacielo, and at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege division, in New York. He also serves as the Creative Partnerships Manager of the Grammy Award-winning Afro Latin Jazz Alliance.
He is the founding Music Director of the Monterrey Summer Opera Academy, a successful program that gathers talented voice students from around the world. Among the faculty members of this program is the iconic American mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick. Felipe is committed to promoting an inclusive performing arts industry and has collaborated with artists and producers on initiatives such as Carnegie Hall Citywide, NY Phil Bandwagon, Met Opera, Lincoln Center, and the Grammy Award-winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (HBO’s “Fandango at the Wall”), among others, to create engaging programs for diverse audiences.
He is the First Prize Winner of the Klangkraft Dirigierwettbewerbs Conducting Competition (Germany 2019), First Prize Winner of the International Conductors Workshop & Competition (Atlanta 2018), and First Prize Winner of the Shining Stars Concerto Competition of New York. He also received an Excellence Award from the Mexican Music Awards in 2017.
In 2017, Felipe toured China as a guest conductor and presented a TEDx Talk in Beijing and Zhengzhou, and later that same year, he was honored to conduct at the Palacio de Bellas Artes— Mexico’s foremost stage—at the 40th Anniversary Gala of the Escuela Superior de Música y Danza de Monterrey.
Among the orchestras he has conducted are the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, Gwinnett Symphony Chamber Orchestra, North Shore Symphony Orchestra, and Zhengzhou Symphony. In Mexico, he has conducted the Aguascalientes, Querétaro, Chihuahua, Oaxaca, Monterrey, Baja California, and Michoacán symphony orchestras. Some of the operatic titles conducted are Falstaff and Il Trovatore (Verdi), La Bohème (Puccini), Carmen (Bizet), L’Amico Fritz (Mascagni), L’Elisir d’Amore (Donizetti). Recording credits include an album as a producer with flutist Krzysztof Kaczka and members of the Met Orchestra with works by Schubert (Hänssler Classics) and the album Flute Concertos by Reinecke & Penderecki with flutist Krzysztof Kaczka and the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra (Hänssler Classics).
Fanfare Magazine lauded Yan Shen’s performances on her solo album, FANTASY|SONATA|ELEGY, for “bravura,” “flair,” “subtlety,” “clarity,” “intellectual curiosity,” “sensitivity,” “technical prowess,” and many more glowing terms pointing to her nuanced and mature artistry.
Formerly a tenured piano faculty member of the Guang Zhou Conservatory of Music, China (2005-2010), Yan Shen, holds a DMA in Collaborative Piano and Artist Diploma in Solo Piano Performance from the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music (studio of renowned pedagogue Timothy Hester). Prior to her studies in the United States Ms. Shen received a M.M. in Piano Performance at Wu Han Conservatory of Music in China, and a B.M. from the Guang Zhou Conservatory of Music.
As a prize winner, Dr. Shen has performed solo and chamber recitals internationally, including at: Carnegie Hall, NYC; Salle Cortot, France; Xing Hai Concert Hall, Wu Han Concert Hall, Qing Dao Concert Hall, Changsha Concert Hall, Hunan Concert Hall, Fujian Concert Hall China; Hong Kong City Hall, among others. She has also given performances at numerous music festivals, including: the Texas Music Festival, USA; the Bellas Artes Music festival, Colombia; the “Polyphony” Music Festival, France; the Basel Music Festival, Switzerland; the Olympic Music Festival, Korea. As a complement to her performance appearances, Dr. Shen has been invited by international music schools and institutions to give master classes and recitals, including the Schumann Piano School and Grotrian Piano Company (Germany), and Bellas Artes University in Medellin, Colombia; Evansville University, Indiana USA; Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China.
Dr. Shen has collaborated with leading concert artists and ensembles, including: David Campbell; Eric Varner; Sydney Carlson, Marie Pallot, Lyda-Chen Argerich, Vagram Saradjian, Shuhan Ye, string musicians from Houston Symphony and Houston Opera/Ballet, etc. She has also performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras, including: the Guang Zhou Symphony Orchestra and Choir; the Hong Kong Metropolitan Pop Orchestra; the Xing Hai Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, Hunan State Symphony Orchestra, ,Accent Symphony Orchestra China, among others.
As a soloist and chamber musician, Dr. Shen has given concert tours in China, Europe and the USA, including with the MAYA DUO which Dr. Shen founded in 2017 and the Pyramid Piano Trio in 2024 with French violinist Marie Pallot and Cellist Eric Zorgniotti. In 2020 Dr.Shen world premiered12 piano solo pieces with Texas New Music Ensemble. In2023,she had one of the two leading main roles of the short film “The 13th Note,” which has won numerous international film competitions, including the Best Original Music of London Independent Festival and 4th Dimension Independent Film Festival in Chili. . During the 2022-2024 seasons, Dr. Shen gave solo recitals and concerto performances at the Texas Music Festival, Hong Kong City Hall, Kawai Piano Gallery in Houston, Bravura Concert Series and Memorial concert Series in Houston, Hunan Concert Hall, Changsha Concert Hall, Ningxiang Concert Hall, Xinghai Concert Hall and Beijing National Library Concert Hall in China.
Dr. Shen is a resident artist of the HK Metropolitan Orchestra, on the piano faculty of Hong Kong International Concerto/Ensemble Competition and Festival and works at the Moores School of Music, University of Houston.
