Dr Isaac Shieh is a disabled New Zealand hornist, collaborator, and researcher of minority ethnic Chinese heritage. Described as a “natural horn virtuoso” (The Horn Player) and “a force to be reckoned with” (Fanfare), he works closely with musicians and artists to create projects that expand the expressive and creative possibilities of the natural horn.

Isaac was the 2024–25 Musician in Residence with Paraorchestra, during which he served as creative director and composer for the dance film The Shape of Absence. He has also collaborated with Simeon Barclay on The Ruin (The Roberts Institute of Art) and Ann Wall on Fragmented (ClimArts). His debut solo album, Caprice Reimagined, released by New Focus Recordings on 11 July 2025, features twelve new commissions for solo natural horn alongside Jacques-François Gallay’s Douze Grands Caprices. As a soloist, he has appeared at the Edinburgh International Festival and the Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi, and has performed as principal horn with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Chineke! Orchestra, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and Paraorchestra, among others.

As a researcher, Isaac’s work focuses on composer–performer collaboration, embodiment in musical performance, and disability studies. He has presented at the Royal Musical Association, the European Platform for Artistic Research in Music, and the 12th Biennial International Conference on Music Since 1900, as well as at universities and conservatoires internationally. He is a panelist and contributor to the Society for Dance Research’s forthcoming book Dance and Silence, In Conversation, and a chapter author in Routledge’s Living Music.

Outside of music, Isaac represents England internationally in para bowls as a director for visually impaired bowlers and is a World Bowls Championships bronze medallist.

Caprice Reimagined

On Caprice Reimagined, UK based natural hornist Isaac Shieh presents the fruits of his ambitious and commendable commissioning project for solo works on his instrument. Pairing the new works by a range of composers including Dai Fujikura, Michael Finnissy, Grace-Evangeline Mason, Timo Andres, and Scott Wollschleger, with a seminal set of 12 Caprices by 19th century composer Jacques-François Gallay, Shieh brings this period instrument into the present with virtuosity, creativity, and passionate advocacy.

The project is supported by Arts Council England as well as The Nicholas Boas Charitable Trust.

The Shape of Absence

The Shape of Absence is a paired exploration of the quiet distances between body, mind, and perception. Through two intimate dance scenes, the film moves through the isolating interior landscapes of mental illness and deafness, while also examining how disability shapes and unsettles identity. Together, these moments trace the subtle contours of absence - what is felt yet unseen, known yet difficult to name.

This project is supported by Paraorchestra.