Violist Master Gunnery Sergeant Christopher Shieh of Upper Marlboro, Md., joined “The President’s Own” United States Marine Chamber Orchestra in June 1996. He was appointed principal in 1997 and string section commander in 2020.

Master Gunnery Sgt. Shieh began his musical training at age 10. After graduating in 1985 from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Md., he earned a bachelor’s degree in music in 1991 and continued graduate studies at the University of Maryland, College Park where he studied with Roberto Diaz and Michael Tree.

Prior to joining “The President’s Own,” he was principal violist with the Maryland Symphony Orchestra in Hagerstown and the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra in Maryland. He also has performed with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra in Washington, D.C., and at the Lancaster Festival in Ohio.

Master Gunnery Sgt. Shieh performs regularly at the White House for State Dinners, receptions, and other White House functions, and throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. He was a featured soloist on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante. He has also given clinics and master classes at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.