Few musicians work professionally across as many disciplines as Shane. His experience spans composition, conducting, singing, teaching, orchestration, audio engineering, and music engraving, giving him a comprehensive perspective on the art of making music.
While many musicians specialize in a single discipline, Shane has built his career at the intersection of several. As a composer, he writes music ranging from lush orchestral works to contemporary classical opera. As a conductor, he is known for his work with both orchestral and choral ensembles, bringing a singer’s sensitivity to phrasing and a composer’s understanding of musical structure. His conducting philosophy is simple: “Sound should be an improvement upon silence.” He also teaches classical voice, combining traditional vocal training with a strong interest in vocal anatomy and voice science. As a professional music engraver, he spends his days preparing publication-quality scores with an eye for detail that influences every part of his musical work.
Shane’s compositional style is rooted in his love of the great masters—particularly Bach and Mozart—while also drawing inspiration from contemporary orchestral, cinematic, and New Age traditions. His operatic work favors memorable vocal writing and emotional immediacy while embracing the expanded harmonic language of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The result is music that balances craftsmanship, emotional depth, and accessibility.
He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Utah State University and a Master of Music degree in Composition from the University of Utah, where he later pursued doctoral studies before deciding that writing music for a living was more attractive than continuing to pay tuition.
Shane’s musical journey began at age twelve when his mother introduced him to music theory. At seventeen, he received a commission from Utah State University’s School of Music to compose an original opera for its Opera Theatre program. He subsequently composed, rehearsed, music directed, and conducted the premiere performances of The Wolf and the Seven Kids, launching a career that has continued to span the concert hall, recording studio, classroom, and publishing world.
His arrangements and compositions have been performed internationally and at the White House for the President of the United States. Today, Shane works with a wide variety of artists and organizations, providing composition, orchestration, arranging, transcription, engraving, and educational services. Whether standing on the podium, teaching in the studio, composing at the piano, or preparing scores for publication, he remains driven by a simple goal: helping great music come to life.
Shane currently works as a music engraver for the Publishing Services Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He lives in Clinton, Utah with his wife Marianne, their three kids, and too many cats and dogs.
