Sean Shepherd is an American composer based in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, Pennsylvania. His work has been performed by major orchestras, ensembles, and performers across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Performances include those with the
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...
, the
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Sev ...
, the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
, the
National Symphony Orchestra
The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It also performs for the annual National Mem ...
, the
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...
, and
New World Symphony Orchestra
The New World Symphony is an American orchestral academy based in Miami Beach, Florida. Established in 1987, the organization is a training ensemble for young musicians in preparation for professional careers in classical music. Since 2011, the ...
, at festivals including the
Aldeburgh Festival
The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the Aldeburgh area of Suffolk, centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall.
History of the Aldeburgh Festival
Th ...
,
Heidelberger Frühling
The International Music Festival Heidelberger Frühling is an annual classical music festival held in Heidelberg in March and April since 1997, with over 100 events and 47,000 visitors (2018). In addition to the festival's productions and concert ...
, La Jolla Music Festival,
Lucerne Festival
Lucerne Festival is one of the leading international festivals in the world of classical music and presents a series of classical music festivals based in Lucerne, Switzerland. Founded in 1938 by Ernest Ansermet and Walter Schulthess, it current ...
,
Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival is a six-week-long summer Festival of chamber music held annually in July and August and located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was founded in 1972 and presented its first series of concerts in 1973. Well-known mu ...
, and
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the T ...
, and with leading European ensembles including
Ensemble Intercontemporain
The Ensemble intercontemporain (EIC) is a French music ensemble, based in Paris, that is dedicated to contemporary music. Pierre Boulez founded the EIC in 1976 for this purpose, the first permanent organization of its type in the world.
Organi ...
, the
Scharoun Ensemble Berlin, the Asko, Schönberg Ensemble and the
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.
Early life and education
Shepherd was born in 1979 in
Reno, Nevada
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...
.
He performed his undergraduate work at the
Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...
, where he studied under David Dzubay and American composer
Claude Baker
W. Claude Baker Jr. (born April 12, 1948 Lenoir, North Carolina) is an American composer of contemporary classical music.
Biography
Claude Baker attained a B.M. degree, magna cum laude, from East Carolina University in 1970. He subsequently stud ...
.
His graduate work was completed at the
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...
, where he studied with American composer
Robert Beaser
Robert Beaser (born May 29, 1954, Boston, Massachusetts) is an American composer.
Biography
Beaser was brought up in a non-musical family. His father was a physician and mother was a chemist. He grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, where he dist ...
, followed by doctoral studies under Puerto Rican Composer
Roberto Sierra
Roberto Sierra (born 9 October 1953) is a Puerto Rican composer of contemporary classical music.
Life
Sierra was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. He studied composition in Europe, notably with György Ligeti in Hamburg (1979–1982), Germany. Af ...
and American Composer
Steven Stucky
Steven Edward Stucky (November 7, 1949 − February 14, 2016) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer.
Life and career
Stucky was born in Hutchinson, Kansas. At age 9, he moved with his family to Abilene, Texas, where, as a teenager, he ...
at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
.
Career
In 2012, Shepherd was named the Kravis Emerging Composer of the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
. Shepherd's "Blue Blazes" premiered with
National Symphony Orchestra
The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It also performs for the annual National Mem ...
under the direction of
Christoph Eschenbach
Christoph Eschenbach (; born 20 February 1940) is a German pianist and conductor.
Early life
Eschenbach was born in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland). His parents were Margarethe (née Jaross) and Heribert Ringmann. He was orphaned durin ...
in 2013.
In 2021, Shepherd's work was featured at the
Tanglewood Music Festival
The Tanglewood Music Festival is a music festival held every summer on the Tanglewood estate in Stockbridge and Lenox in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts.
The festival consists of a series of concerts, including symphonic music, ch ...
and at the
Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival is a six-week-long summer Festival of chamber music held annually in July and August and located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was founded in 1972 and presented its first series of concerts in 1973. Well-known mu ...
. His work was deemed a "season highlight" when performed at the
Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music
The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music is an annual Festival dedicated to contemporary symphonic music by living composers. The music director since 2017 has been Cristian Măcelaru. According to Jesse Rosen, CEO of the League of American Orc ...
in 2021.
Shepherd served as a finalist judge in the 2021
Broadcast Music, Inc.
Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is a performance rights organization in the United States. It collects blanket license fees from businesses that use music, entitling those businesses to play or sync any songs from BMI's repertoire of over 20.6 milli ...
's 69th Annual Student Composer Awards.
He is currently a visiting assistant professor of composition at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
.
Works
Orchestral
* ''Blue Blazes'', 2012
* ''Concerto for Ensemble'', 2014-15
* ''Desert Garden,'' 2011
* ''Downtime'', 2021
* ''Express Abstractionism'', 2017
* ''Magiya'', 2013
* ''Melt'', 2018
* ''Silvery Rills'', 2011
* ''Songs'', 2013
* ''Sprout'', 2021
* ''Tuolumne'', 2012
* ''Wanderlust'', 2009
Ensemble and Chamber Without Voices
* ''Aperture in Shift'', for violin, cello, and piano, 2006
* ''the birds are nervous, the birds are scattered'', for clarinet, violin, and piano, 2008
* ''Blur'', for ensemble, 2011
* ''Lumens'', for ensemble, 2005
* ''Means of Escape'', for violin, cello, and clarinet
* ''Metamorphoses'', for ensemble, 2004
* ''Octet'', for ensemble, 2008
* ''Old Instruments'', for flute and percussion, 2021
* ''Quartet for Oboe and Strings'', for oboe quartet, 2011
* ''Quintet'', for chamber ensemble 2013
* ''String Quartet No. 1'', for string quartet, 2005
* ''String Quartet No. 2'', for string quartet, 2015
* ''String Quartet No. 3'', for string quartet, 2020
* ''Tiny Bright Big True Real'', for oboe, bassoon, and piano, 2022
* ''Trio'', for piano trio, 2012
* ''Twilight'', for bassoon and string quartet, 2001
* ''Vignette: Four Vinaigrettes'', for woodwind quintet, 2003/05
* ''Wanderlust - Seagulls on High'', for large ensemble, 2007
Ensemble and Chamber With Voices
* ''New Poems - 1907'', mezzo-soprano and ensemble, 2002-03
* ''Ozymandias'', for solo voices SATB, string quartet, and clarinet, 2005
Instrumental
* ''Dust'', for violin and piano, 2008
* ''Echo'', for oboe, 2017
* ''familiar'', for cello, 2022
* ''ribboned/braided/spun'', for harp, 2014
* ''wideOPENwide'', for violin, 2016
Chamber Orchestra
* ''These Particular Circumstances'', 2009
Choral
* ''The Daffodils'', 2013
Piano
* ''Preludes'', 2005-06
Solo Instrument and Orchestra
* On a Clear Day, Cello
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd, Sean
1979 births
People from Reno, Nevada
American composers
Indiana University alumni
Cornell University alumni
Living people