Shelby Lock is a pianist, composer, audio engineer, and the owner of the Santa Cruz, CA recording studio Silver Moon Sound...
A three-time finalist in The American Prize in Composition, Shelby composes music that uplifts, inspires, and transports listeners to another time and place. She made her Kennedy Center debut in 2022, performing her pieces "A Matter of Time" and "Acadia." She was the Grand Prize Winner of the Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2016 Composition Competition with her piece "Out of Ashes."
As a pianist, Shelby has played on recordings by USA Today Woman of the Year Lachi, Lebanese operatic pop sensation Andrew Andraos, Namibia’s world-touring vocal group Vmsix, Cincinnati R&B star Jess Lamb, and countless other independent artists. In August 2026, she released a collaboration with GRAMMY®-winning producer Raniero Palm's Venezuela Strings Recording Ensemble: "A Matter of Time: Perseverancia," her original compostion for piano and strings, with orchestration by Joe Jaxson.
Shelby pursued an M.M. in Composition at the Chicago College of Performing Arts with composition teachers Daron Hagen, Kyong Mee Choi, and Teddy Niedermaier. She earned a B.M. in Composition and a B.S. in Audio Engineering from Belmont University where she studied piano with Nashville Symphony Principal Pianist Robert Marler and composition with Mark Volker, Bill Pursell, and James Carlson, with additional independent composition study with The Hartt School’s Gilda Lyons.
As owner of the studio Silver Moon Sound, Shelby specializes in recording, mixing, and mastering classical, acoustic-based genres, and R&B. She enjoys combining her musical and technical expertise to bring clients' projects to life.
Shelby's audio engineering credits include: mastering for GRAMMY® winner Bootsy Collins (Parliament-Funkadelic), mastering for GRAMMY® winner Bash Killa, and mastering for two-time GRAMMY® nominee Eric Alexandrakis; mixing and mastering for American Idol alum Jess Lamb, mixing and mastering for internationally acclaimed soprano Michelle Areyzaga, and over two hundred fifty other credits.
Shelby has been Founding Chair of the Audio Engineering Society’s DEI Accessibility Subcommittee since 2023. She also serves as a Governor on the Recording Academy Chicago Chapter Board and as a member of the Recording Academy Chicago Producers & Engineers Wing Committee.
Shelby has given lectures and spoken on panels for organizations such as The Recording Academy P&E Wing, The John F. Kennedy Center, The Audio Engineering Society, RAMPD, Belmont University, Neuroimmune Foundation, The Alex Manfull Fund, and The Virginia State Legislature.
Professional Memberships
The Recording Academy / GRAMMYs®
- Governor, Chicago Chapter Board
- Member, Chicago P&E Wing Committee
ASCAP
- Committee Member, San Francisco Section
- Founder & Co-Chair, Accessibility Subcommittee of International DEI Comittee
- Member, Editorial Subcommittee of DEI Committee
Composers Diversity Collective
Nashville Composer Collective
RAMPD (Recording Artists & Music Professionals with Disabilities)
Sound Girls
Women's Audio Mission
Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society
Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society
Bio, Homepage, and Pianist photos credit: Molly Noori