Meet Jiawei Shen | One of LA’s Most Impressive Young Composers

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jiawei Shen.

Hi Jiawei, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born and raised in mainland China, and began studying classical music around the age of ten, with the saxophone as my primary instrument. I continued playing through high school, although I majored in an entirely unrelated field in college. Still, I remained deeply interested in music from different countries and genres—artists like Vitas, Flёur, Keren Ann, Nine Inch Nails, Linkin Park, Muse, Pink Floyd, and Radiohead, etc, have all inspired me in different ways. After graduating, I started writing songs, composing, and producing music part-time on my own. I found it deeply fulfilling and a great way to escape from the routine of daily life.

In 2017, I received what seemed like a large investment at the time from a Chinese music company to produce an album, which marked the beginning of my full-time music production career. While working as an arranger and music producer for both my own songs and those commissioned by others, I realized how fascinated I was by the idea of telling conceptual stories through music beyond just lyrics.

Around this time, I also formed my own band, where I serve as the lead vocalist, synth player, and producer. The band explores the intersection of Chinese instruments, ancient Chinese literature, and electronic music. We toured extensively across China and were invited to perform at numerous music festivals. This experience helped me explore how Chinese instruments and music can have a more global presence.

Starting in 2019, thanks to introductions from friends, I gradually began scoring music for commercials and eventually landed my first feature film scoring project. It was a turning point for me—I could finally tell complete stories through my compositions. I found tremendous joy in this work. Unlike writing songs, which are often created and completed in a short time and can leave me emotionally depleted, film scoring allows me to stay immersed in a story and its emotional arc for a longer period. It’s like being in an intense, evolving relationship, and it lets me experience different lives through music. That’s one of the reasons I’ve grown to love film scoring so deeply.

While growing up, I read many classical Chinese texts. Traditional Chinese philosophy has deeply influenced how I approach storytelling and film. For example, the concept of “liubai”, or “leaving space,” is a core aesthetic in Chinese culture. It brings a sense of breath and beauty by allowing room for interpretation and reflection. Sometimes, portraying characters or plot elements in a vague, minimal way gives them more possibility—and that ambiguity, too, is a kind of philosophical beauty. These ideas often guide me when I compose, helping me shape stories not just through what is said, but through what is left unsaid.

After working in film scoring for several years in China, I composed for seven feature films, including Gone With the Boat and 731, both of which received multiple honors at film festivals in China and internationally. . At one point, I read two autobiographies by one of my favorite Japanese composers, Ryuichi Sakamoto. His life and work inspired me to connect more with the world and explore new perspectives to develop a more personal voice in my film scoring.

Many of the composers I admire—such as Jóhann Jóhannsson and Ludwig Göransson—have created globally renowned works from Los Angeles. That gave me the courage and motivation to move to the U.S. and start a new chapter in both my life and career. I’ve been continuing my composition studies at UCLA, and during my time in L.A., I’ve scored several short films and recently composed the music for a stage play titled Her Rage, presented at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. For this project, I used modern composition techniques, including experimental vocal samples and percussion created from field recordings in the forest. The music received warm feedback from audiences, and I felt deeply fulfilled.

Most recently, I was honored to receive the BMI/Jerry Goldsmith Film Scoring Scholarship. This recognition means a great deal to me—it encourages me as a young film composer and makes me feel seen by the industry. It motivates me to keep exploring and developing a truly unique voice in film music.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. For many years, I didn’t receive any formal academic training in either music production or film scoring. I relied on instinct and my own imagined ways of doing things, which often didn’t align with industry standards. Naturally, my early works didn’t receive much recognition.

Looking back now, I can see that while those early pieces were technically immature, they still contained valuable moments of exploration. I’ve come to believe that finding your own voice often means constantly experimenting—sometimes painfully—at the intersection between personal expression and established norms. That process inevitably brings challenges, and even creative failures.

I’m still on that journey of exploration. But I remain confident that I’ll eventually be able to create a unique voice in film music—one that is truly mine, rather than becoming the next Ludwig Göransson or Hans Zimmer.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have two abilities that might sound a little unusual. One is the ability to visualize music—when I write melodies, I don’t just judge them based on how they sound, but I often see abstract images or colors associated with the notes. This helps me create melodies that connect more deeply with the story, beyond just being “pretty” or “catchy.”

The other ability is knowing how to use unconventional sounds—including all kinds of synthesizers and unusual sampled textures—and blend them with acoustic instruments or orchestra in the right cinematic context. While strange or experimental timbres are often easy to apply in horror, suspense, or tension-driven scenes, it’s much more challenging to use them effectively in other genres without disrupting the mood or narrative. I think this ability comes from years of reading and observing life—it allows me to find unique angles within characters or stories, and design sonic textures that highlight a specific facet of human complexity. That’s something I take a lot of pride in.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I believe I still have a long way to go before reaching what most people would consider “success.” But there are certain qualities that have consistently supported me on my path—and one of the most important, I think, is the ability to ask questions.

On my personal website, I wrote: “I pursue new paths, exploring unasked questions to address future challenges.” I truly believe the world is constantly in flux, and the answers we hold today often have limited meaning or relevance as time moves forward. But the ability to ask questions—that, to me, is a tool for opening up new possibilities. Like a microscope, it allows us to observe the deeper patterns behind how things work.

This quality has helped me in many aspects: composing music that tells deeper stories, understanding films beyond their surface, and connecting with people in real life—friends, collaborators, and directors—with empathy and insight. It may not be a trait traditionally associated with “success” in the conventional sense, but for me, it has been essential in building confidence, staying grounded, and moving forward as a film composer with a strong sense of purpose and identity. It keeps me from drifting with the current and instead helps me carve out my own path.

Pricing:

• Available for feature film, short film, theater, and multimedia scoring projects.
• Rates vary depending on project scale and timeline.
• Open to working with independent filmmakers and student directors with flexible budgets.
• Feel free to reach out via my website for custom quotes and availability.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jiaweishen.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jiawei_composer/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555456082848&mibextid=wwXIfr&mibextid=wwXIfr
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14900239/