/Sean Shepherd/ /composer/

Sean Shepherd

/composer/

© 2005-10 seanshepherd.com

from Lumens (0:58)

[click to silence]

/NEWS/

what's New

March.18.2010: CONTACT! Interview Video

See Sean's thoughts on writing a piece for the Phil (and maybe an embarrassing childhood photo or five). These Particular Circumstances premieres in New York City on April 16 and 17 (with friends Nico and Matthias) and in Bloomington (with friends Anthony, Andrew, and Eric) on April 20. Sean also speaks at Composers Seminar at Indiana University on April 19. Consider yourself invited to any or all.

March.2010

Welcome to seanshepherd.com 2.0. Thanks for visiting. Check back soon for Sean's plans and engagements for the 2010-11 season, including the London and Miami premieres of Wanderlust.

March.3.2009

The American Academy of Arts and Letters announces its 2009 awards in Music. Sean is the recipient of the Benjamin H. Danks Award (rotated annually between a playright, a writer and a composer on a three-year cycle) of $20,000, given to "an exceptional young composer of ensemble works".

January.12.2009

The New York Philharmonic has commissioned a new work from Sean to appear on CONTACT!, the orchestra's brand-new New Music series, to be conducted by Music Director Alan Gilbert as part of his exciting inaugural season. The premiere, along with new works of Nico Muhly and Matthias Pintscher, is scheduled for April 2010.

March.25.2008

Sean has some exciting events coming up here in Berlin, where the American Academy is presenting a Portrait Concert at the ultra-modern RadialSystem V, and in the UK, where his piece, Seagulls on High, appears on the Aldeburgh Festival in June.

Next season, look for performances of new works on the calendars of the National Symphony Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra.

May.7.2007

The winds doth blow, and Sean will spend most of the next year or so abroad, or: known to your grandpa as the old country. In July, he'll work with some of his heroes - Lindberg, Knussen, and Matthews - at the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme.

In the fall, The Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France, will be home while he completes some larger projects, leading to a Spring 2008 fellowship residency at the American Academy in Berlin. Europa Europa!

In the meantime, Aaron Wunsch will perform the Preludes written for him at Juilliard on May 21!

January.20.2007

Several updates to the site are nearing a long-overdue completion, including new additions to the media and works sections. Enjoy.

November.15.2006

Check out Monday Evening Concerts for the newly revamped Los Angeles new-music staple and this year's great lineup of events. Sean's Lumens will appear alongside some excellent works in a performance focused on young blood in the Americas--February 19th at Zipper Hall.

Listen to concert curator Steven Stucky discuss the evening's program.

May.29.2006

Sean has been awarded the Chamber Commission from the New York Youth Symphony First Music Program. A new piano trio, Aperture in Shift, will find its way to Carnegie Hall next April.

And more good news. Sean has been selected as the recipient of the Deutsche Bank Berlin Prize, and will spend spring 2008 at the American Academy in Berlin.

May.12.2006

The American Music Center invited Sean to keep a daily diary of his experience at the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute this week. Check out the work of a blogging virgin here. Then look to the right on that page for the next week of, well, deflowering.

April.26.2006

Sean will spend June and July in the mountains, at the composers Masterclass program at Aspen. Faculty this year include Christopher Rouse and Marc-Andre Dalbavie. Check back for performances.

In late July, a new work for Oboe, English Horn and Piano will debut at the International Double Reed Society Conference at Ball State University in Muncie, IN. Just as soon as he finds a title, you'll find it here.

December.5.2005

Sean has won 1st prize in the Lutosławski Society International Competition for Composers, for his String Quartet. The work will be premiered at the Warsaw Philharmonic and broadcast on Polish Radio in February 2006, and Sean will recieve 20,000 Złoty (about $6,000).

If you are up on your Polish-- Lutosławski Society Announcement.

September.14.2005

Sean has been invited to participate in the Minnesota Orchestra Reading Sessions and Composer Institute in May 2006. During the weeklong workshop, he'll meet with director Aaron Jay Kernis, conductors Osmo Vanska and David Alan Miller, members of the orchestra and music professionals. Somewhere in there, the orchestra will read surface tension, among a few others.

August.2005

Dan Welcher and the University of Texas New Music Ensemble have programmed Metamorphoses on their regular concert season this fall. Sean will be in Austin for the performance, scheduled for Nov 1, at 8PM.

After a whirlwind summer, Sean is back in Ithaca. This was a good summer, as always, for new music at Tanglewood. In addition to major pieces of the last twenty years, including Dutilleux's Shadows of Time and Ligeti's Horn Trio, finding their way onto regular concert programs of the TMC, John Harbison's Festival of Contemporary Music presented venerables such as Carter and Pearle, Ran and Mackey, in person as well as in sound. An appearance by eighth blackbird was a highlight, as was the finale concert, when the TMC Orchestra, performing Steven Stucky's Second Concerto for Orchestra, brought the house down.

The six composer Fellows were great friends and colleagues, and all will soon find their way to the web. For now, check out the music of Anthony if you can - it's worth it.

April.15.2005

Sean has won the 2005 Ensemble X competition at Cornell with his Vinaigrettes. He'll write a new piece for this world-class new music ensemble to be performed on their 2005-06 season.

March.02.2005

Sean was named as a 2005 recipient of the Charles Ives Scholarship ($7,500) from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He will attend the Academy's annual Ceremonial in May.

February.08.2005

Sean will be attending the Tanglewood Music Center this summer! He'll get to work with Steve Mackey, John Harbison, George Benjamin, Augusta Read Thomas, Bright Sheng and Michael Gandolfi, as well as with other TMC fellows and faculty.

October.26.2004

Judith Clurman and the Election Singers presented I believe in democracy, a short movement for choir, at the Library of Congress's Coolidge Auditorium as part of Mr. President, a song cycle based on presidential quotes. Sean's quote, originally chosen by Judy and her son, Ari, comes from Woodrow Wilson- "I believe in democracy because it releases the energy of every human being."

October.22 & 29.2004

The joint premieres of Metamorphoses took place in New York and London, respectively. Sean traveled to New York on Oct 16th and joined fellow composers Nico Muhly and Justin Messina in London on the 23rd. The concerts, which were part of a collaborative effort between the new music ensembles at Juilliard and the Royal Academy of Music, were the results of commissions awarded in 2003. Simon Bainbridge conducted Sean's piece, which concluded the programs.

May.10.2004

Sean has been awarded the Palmer Dixon Prize, Juilliard's award for outstanding composition, for New Poems- 1907.