Yaoqi Shen was born in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. As a classical pianist, Yaoqi has extended piano training of more than twenty years. She started learning the piano at a young age and studied under Professor Jun Xu, the Director of the Piano Department at Nanjing University of the Arts, as well as Professors Huifang Ye and Chun Pan, Vice Director of the Piano Department at the Central Conservatory of Music, and Professor Ting Zhong at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She was admitted to the Piano Performance program at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music with the highest score in Jiangsu Province, where she studied under Professor Hong Huang . After graduation, she joined the Nanjing Frontline Performing Arts Troupe as a Piano Art Director and was also invited by the Raymond Art Center to serve as a supervising teacher for the piano teaching and research group, responsible for training and supervising piano accompanists and guiding students' piano learning paths. She represented the troupe in multiple prestigious competitions, including the Golden Bell Award and Wenhua Award, where she achieved excellent results. 

With over ten years of teaching experience, Yaoqi has extensive experience in both offline and online piano instruction. Her students have won numerous top awards in national and international piano competitions. All her students who participated in graded piano exams passed with excellent results. She has received the Jiangsu Excellent Instructor Award and Best Instructor Award from the Jiangsu Piano Association for four consecutive years. In 2018, she was invited to serve as an online competition judge for the Jiangsu Piano Association.

Since moving to San Diego, Yaoqi established her own music studio, and has also become a Steinway Teacher & Educational Partner and a member of the Music Teachers National Association.