Editor's Note: Graduation season is a time when people often ask themselves: What's next? Edwin Montealegre once faced the same uncertainty. After studying at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, he chose to stay in Shanghai, where he built a career as a conductor and entrepreneur. We hope his journey inspires graduates — especially international students in China — to follow their inner compass and embrace new possibilities.
Taking a leap of faith
In 2017, I finished my bachelor's degree in choral conducting at the National University of Costa Rica. At the beginning of 2018, I faced a simple but heavy question: what should I do with my life now? My professor, who had guided me for many years, was retiring, so I called her and asked honestly what she thought I should do. She suggested that I should go to China, to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
At that moment, Shanghai was almost unknown to me. I did not speak Mandarin, and my English was also very basic. Still, something inside me felt that I had to try. I arrived in Shanghai in August 2018 to begin my year of Chinese language study. Everything was new: the weather, the rhythm of the city, the language, and the atmosphere in the dormitory. On my first day, I heard another international student playing a Chinese flute. For me, that sound was like a welcome into a completely different musical world.
That year, I studied Mandarin and English at the same time, but I was also preparing myself musically. One day, I passed by the conducting department and heard some students playing the piano. They played so well, with a level of technique that honestly frightened me. I asked myself: "Edwin, what can you offer in a place with so much talent?"
That fear pushed me to work. I began to study piano every day and to prepare seriously for the master's program. Around that time, I came across an interview with Arthur Rubinstein. What stayed with me was the idea that technical ability is important, but what truly reaches the audience is the soul that the artist gives through the music. From that moment, I stopped worrying so much about whether others had more technique than I did. Technique matters, of course, but I understood that my responsibility was to find my own voice and share my own soul through music.
Growing through music
When I began my master's degree in conducting, one of the people who helped me the most was my professor, Cao Tongyi. He changed many aspects of the conducting technique I had brought with me. My movements were a little rigid, and he guided me toward a more fluid technique. I often compare it with Tai Chi, because the movement has to flow with the energy. A conductor cannot touch the music with the hands, sing it with the lips, or play it with the fingers. We conduct. We guide the energy, the direction, and the breath of the music.
Although I only had six months of in-person study in 2019 before the pandemic changed everything, those months were deeply productive. During that time, I also became the conductor of the Conservatory’s Voices of the World Choir, an experience that allowed me to connect with students from many different countries through music. Later, during the three years I spent in Costa Rica, I tried to remain active and connected with SHCM. In June 2020, together with classmates from The Voice of the World Choir and other friends, we created an online version of We Are the World, featuring students from around 14 countries. At a time when many of us were separated physically, the project became a bridge, uniting us through the power of music.
Building a dream in Shanghai
I graduated in June 2023. After graduation, another big question appeared: should I return to Costa Rica or stay in Shanghai? I had interesting opportunities in Costa Rica, but my heart was in Shanghai. I learned that Shanghai had a pilot policy that allowed graduates from several universities, including SHCM, to apply for an entrepreneur visa within two years after graduation. To do that, I needed a business plan. I had never written one before, so I began to research and to shape a plan for a music production company focused on orchestras and choirs. Looking back, that first plan was idealistic, but it contained the vision I still want to build.
At the beginning of 2024, even without strong financial support, I registered the company and began to work. Soon after, we had the opportunity to perform in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, and that became the first moment when I could call together an orchestra. I had never built an orchestra project from zero before: arrangements, scores, rehearsals, stage details, and all the production work behind a concert. It was difficult, but it also showed me that the dream could become real.
At the same time, we realized that many women in Shanghai were looking for meaningful artistic activities in the afternoon. That was the beginning of the Shanghai M Ladies' Choir, which we founded in September 2024. We started with only five singers, and some former classmates from SHCM helped me grow the choir. Today, the choir has about 50 members. It has become a place for vocal development, artistic growth, and real stage opportunities.
In 2026, we opened another women's choir for weekends, Moon Chant Women's Choir, because not everyone is free on weekdays. In September, we will also open a children's choir in Shanghai. In a city with many choirs, including many free choirs, our goal is to offer a different path: a professional, flexible, and meaningful space where people can grow artistically and find a deeper connection with music.
The orchestra has also continued to be part of my vision. Last October, during the Golden Week (China's National Day holiday), we presented concerts at Shanghai Oriental Art Center to celebrate the National Day of the People's Republic of China, performing both Western and Chinese works. Those concerts were meaningful, but the company also faced financial challenges, and we had to pause the orchestra again. This year, on Dec 19, we are preparing a special winter concert that will bring together our choirs and orchestra. We are also planning a New Year concert, and my hope is that in 2027 the orchestra can perform more regularly. That year will also mark the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's death, and I believe it will open many beautiful possibilities.
A message to graduates
To the students of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, I would like to say this: you are part of one of the most important conservatories in the world, and that gives us a responsibility to offer the public our very best. If we compare ourselves, let it be with the person we see in the mirror. There will always be someone with more ability, and someone with less. Our task is not to live watching what others are doing, but to follow our own inner compass and become better every day.
Music can change people. One concert changed my life and inspired me to choose music as my profession. I am deeply grateful to SHCM for pushing me to a higher level, for changing my mindset, and for teaching me to seek excellence. I am also grateful to Shanghai, which has been my home and has given me the opportunity to grow. I look forward to sharing the stage with many SHCM musicians and to offering the public of Shanghai many meaningful musical experiences in the years to come.
