Shina Heo was born in Busan, South Korea, where she grew up in a Christian family, and was surrounded by church music. Performing piano, violin, and cello at her church was a regular event when she was young. By the age of 15 her interests focused on the organ because of its independence as a solo instrument.
After graduating from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, with both Bachelor's and Master's degrees, Shina moved to Montreal, Canada, where the French Romantic cultural influence is evident. She received a Graduate Diploma in Performance from McGill University. For further organ study, she moved to Dallas, Texas, and studied organ playing in the German Post-romantic style at Southern Methodist University under Stefan Engels. Ms. Heo has been the organist at First Presbyterian Church in Arlington, Texas, since 2018.