Born in Tianjin in China, En Shao started to play the piano and violin at the ages of four and five respectively and by the age of 18 was working as a composer, pianist and percussionist with a local orchestra. After graduating from the Beijing Central Conservatory he became second Principal Conductor of the Chinese Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, a post he held for five years and Principal Guest Conductor of the Central Philharmonic Orchestra of China and the National Youth Orchestra of China.

En Shao was awarded the Lord Rhodes Fellowship at the Royal Northern College of Music, when he came to England in 1988, and in the same year he received the first Edward Van Beinum Foundation Scholarship. As winner of the Sixth Hungarian Television International Conductor’s Competition in 1989 he conducted several performances with the Hungarian Radio Orchestra and the State Symphony Orchestra. In January 1990 he became Associate Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, a post created especially for him. Between 1992 - 1995 he was Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Ulster Orchestra with whom he made his Proms debut and has also held the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the Euskadi Orchestra in Spain. In November 2002 Maestro Shao was appointed Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Macao Orchestra at the invitation of the Macao Institute taking up the position fully from the start of the 2003-4 season.

In the UK En Shao conducted the London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Hallé, Bournemouth, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestras and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Elsewhere recent and future engagements include the Helsinki, Royal Stockholm, Malaysian and Czech Philharmonic Orchestras, Stavanger, Prague and Palermo Symphony Orchestras, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Lorraine, the Helsingborg, Norkopping, Lahti, Oulu, Aarhus, Aalborg, Tivoli, Radiotelevision Solvenia and Athens Symphony Orchestras, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Winterthur Musikkolegium, and the Polish National Radio Orchestra.

Further afield he is a regular visitor to the United States and Canada, working with the orchestras of Colorado, Toronto and Vancouver as well as tours to South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

En Shao maintains close links with China and following his debut with the newly formed China Philharmonic Orchestra for their prestigious 1st May concert last year has been invited to return on a regular basis. In 1998 he completed a highly successful British Council tour of China with percussionist Evelyn Glennie and the Central Chinese Television recently made a documentary on his life, which has been shown in China.
En Shao has a wide range of interests including Chinese cuisine, contemporary interior design and architecture and jazz. He also takes a particular interest in environmental issues.