As Winner of the 2007 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, Shenyang came swiftly to international attention with a string of high-profile debuts ensuing including at the Metropolitan Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zürich and Washington National Opera. While his early career focused principally on Rossini, Mozart and Handel roles, recent seasons have seen a shift into more dramatic repertoire with debuts as Don Pizarro (Fidelio) with Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under Gustavo Dudamel, Jochanaan (Salome) with Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and Alexander Liebreich, Gunther (Götterdämmerung) with Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra under Jaap van Zweden (released on Naxos), Kurwenal (Tristan und Isolde) at the Glyndebourne Festival and BBC Proms with Robin Ticciati, and Klingsor (Parsifal) at La Monnaie under Alain Altinoglu.

The concert stage has always played an important role in this versatile artist’s seasons with recent highlights including Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette with Berliner Philharmoniker/Daniel Harding, Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex (Tiresias) with Concertgebouworkest/Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with Philadelphia Orchestra/Yannick Nézet-Séguin and New York Philharmonic/Alan Gilbert, Mussorgsky’s Songs of Dances and Death with Helsinki Philharmonic/Klaus Mäkelä, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with Boston Symphony Orchestra/Andris Nelsons and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Ilan Volkov, and Mahler’s Symphony No.8 with Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest/Marc Albrecht.

In 2022/23, Shenyang joins Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin as Kurwenal and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich as Don Pizarro under their respective Music Directors Robin Ticciati and Paavo Järvi, while Verdi’s Messa da Requiem marks a debut with both Orchestre National de Lyon under Simone Young and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under Ed Gardner. He joins the line-up for Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with Wiener Konzerthausorchester under Klaus Mäkelä and in the season opening concerts of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra with Jaap van Zweden.

A strong champion of the vocal treasures of his homeland, Shenyang created the title role in Tan Dun’s Buddha Passion at Dresdner Musikfestspiele with subsequent appearances with Los Angeles Philharmonic and Melbourne Symphony orchestras and, in the current season, with London Philharmonic Orchestra and at Müpa Budapest under the composer’s own baton. He performed and recorded Xiaogang Ye’s orchestral song cycle The Song of the Earth for Deutsche Grammophon under the baton of Long Yu.

A recipient of the Alice Tully Vocal Arts Award for his commitment to Lieder, Shenyang has performed around the world in recital and presents his new programme Variations of Jade – The Journey of Tang Poetry at Wigmore Hall this season, as well as at the National Centre of Performing Arts Beijing and the Macau International Music Festival. On disc, he features on A Lost World, a showcase of Schubert songs and duets together with soprano Susanna Phillips and pianist Brian Zeger (released on Delos).