Sho-mei Pelletier, Associate - Principal Violinist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, is a Legacy of musicians and artists, of birthright and adopted families from China, Canada, and Mexico, and of religious influences from Buddhism and Judaism.  Her musical affiliations are long and also diversified.  She has been a member of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra since graduation from Indiana University where she was a Scholarship student of the world - famous Pedagogue, Josef Gingold.  She had played for over 25 years with the famous Santa Fe Opera, as Associate - Principal  II Violin  as well as  with the Dallas Chamber Orchestra (as Principal II Violin), The Voices of Change, the Dallas Bach Society (as Principal II Violin and Concert - master), the Walden Chamber Music Series, the Hubbard Chamber Music Series, the Kodaly Duo, the New Arensky Piano Trio, the AntonA Piano Trio, the YES String Quintet, the Young Strings Trio and numerous other Chamber Music groups.  Sho-mei has also performed as Violin Soloist with all the aforementioned groups plus the Mesa Symphony Orchestra, the Tempe Symphony, the Phoenix Symphony Concerto Competition , the Phoenix String Symphony , and the Sun Valley Festival Orchestra in Idaho. Plus, she has appeared as Violin Soloist with  the Flagstaff Festival Orchestra and has performed with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, the Evansville Philharmonic, the Owensborro Philharmonic, and the Interlochen Summer Music Festival, as well as the Music in the Mountains Festival (performing with the Festival Orchestra as Associate - Principal  II Violin and  as a Chamber Musician).  Sho-mei had a rare opportunity once, to perform in an improvisational Piano Trio that included an Artist - Painter (painting in oils during the performance on stage)  with piano and violin.  The performance was totally improvised!  Besides her busy performance schedule, she still finds time to teach very talented young Scholarship students with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Young Strings Program.  Plus, she has numerous private students in her Violin Studio.  Sho-mei has also taught at the outstanding Booker T. Washington School for the Arts, Arts Magnet High School and was an Associate - Instructor of Violin (for Professor Gingold) at Indiana University.  


Some of Sho-mei’s violin teachers have included Ivan Galamian, Sally Thomas, Elaine Richey, Sidney Harth, Harold Wolf, Angel Reyes, Dr. Frank Spinosa, Dr. Harold W. Pelletier, and James Oliver Buswell.


In June of 1993, Sho-mei premiered the rarely performed  Double Concerto for Harpsichord and Violin by J. Haydn to an overflow audience with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.   In 1995, she, again, premiered another rare but beautiful Violin Concerto by Anton S. Arensky  with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra to a standing - room  only audience at the Meyerson Symphony Hall.  Sho-mei received standing ovations for both premier performances.  Both performances were Texas premieres.


Sho-mei is also an accomplished, self - taught, Artist.  She paints in oils and has completed more than 55 paintings.  She has won prizes in juried shows and has exhibited her work in galleries in Santa Fe and Dallas.  Her pen and ink caricatures have been sold in stores,  boutiques, music stores, and gift shops all over the United States and abroad.   Her artwork can be found on the DSO website at  DSO Kids.com, on posters and business cards, and in a recently published book called “ The Simple Dictionary for Classical Musicians, A Humorous Collection of Terms, Types, and Repertoire”.  The DSO website features over 60 humorous caricatures of famous Composers that the Dallas Symphony Orchestra  has performed.  Her published book features famous and infamous musicians in very funny situations.  Her NEW, Published BOOK, “FUNNY COMPOSERS!”, features MOST of the Composers and Conductors she has created for the DSO Website and is available in BOTH Paperback and Hardback editions!!!  In addition to the aforementioned, Sho-mei accepts commissions from anyone who might be interested!  Please inquire!!


Sho-mei is married to Dallas Symphony double - bassist Dwight Shambley, who, in his own right, is quite outstanding...... as a musician, teacher, father, and founder of the nationally recognized DSO Young Strings Scholarship Program ( a program that promotes the talents of outstanding young string players who are financially or racially under - represented in the world of top Symphony Orchestras). They are the proud parents of 2 children, both of which are talented musicians themselves.  Aaron is in Pre - med as a Biology major and hopes to specialize in epidemiology, genetics, and research.  Alexis is currently interested in science, art and, of course, music!

The XIAO (show)

Welcome to my World!