Since the completion of a course in the Moscow State Conservatory in 2006 Shapovalov has been increasingly working as a conductor. He has been captivating audiences with his outstanding musicianship and global way of thinking.
In the 2010-11 season Denis was appointed a Principal Guest Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra in Siberia. In 2012 Shapovalov was invited to become an artistic director of the key project of the III Mstislav Rostropovich International Festival “Cello Parade” and to conduct an orchestra of 65 cellists.
He often adopts the double role of a conductor and a soloist. In recent seasons Shapovalov has performed as a conductor all over Russia with many ensembles including the State Symphony Orchestra “Novaya Rossiya”, the Russian National Orchestra Soloists Ensemble, the Symphony Orchestra of the Astrakhan State Opera and Ballet Theatre, Altai Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Ulyanovsk State Symphony Orchestra, Surgut Symphony Orchestra, the State Symphony Orchestra of the Udmurt Republic, Tomsk Symphony Orchestra, Samara Philharmonic Orchestra.
In recent years Shapovalov has conducted many world premières of the contemporary composers’ music, as well as his own composition premiere “Symphony in Rock Style” in October, 2019 in Siberia.
He gave numerous concerts in Lithuania (the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra), Kazakhstan (the Kazakhstan National Symphony Orchestra), Belarus (the Belarusian National Symphony Orchestra), Serbia (the Serbian Chamber Orchestra “Belgrade Strings”), Bolivia (the Cochabamba Philharmonic Orchestra) and others. For several seasons Shapovalov is a permanent guest conductor at Montenegro Symphony Orchestra.