Hal Leonard Australia would like to congratulate Boosey and Hawke on their signing of world renown composer Sean Shepherd. By exclusive agreement, Boosey & Hawkes now represents Shepherd's existing catalogue of orchestral and chamber music as well as future works worldwide. Says Zizi Mueller, Senior Vice President, Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.: "We're delighted that this rising young American composer has joined the Boosey & Hawkes roster. "At a young age, Sean has accomplished a skillful compositional style over several genres, and inhabits a musical language that is deeply felt, complex and dynamic. We look forward to introducing him to generations of new audiences, alongside Boosey's catalogue of great composers."
Says Sean Shepherd: "For me, joining the roster of Boosey & Hawkes house composers, long a select group of the world's definitive musical voices, is a rare privilege and a special responsibility. I am deeply touched by this organization's commitment to and enthusiasm for my work, and I am gratified to welcome them as collaborative partners on my artistic path for many years to come."
Composer Sean Shepherd's "kaleidoscopic use of orchestral color" (The New York Times) has earned him admiration and recognition across the US and Europe. His recent works are scheduled for performances at the New World, BBC, and National symphonies, at festivals in Aldeburgh, Santa Fe, and La Jolla, and with chamber ensembles such as the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin and Amsterdam's Asko
Schönberg Ensemble. As the 2011-2012 Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellow of the Cleveland Orchestra, he will participate in rehearsals, masterclasses, and educational activities in the Northeast Ohio community, take part in the orchestra's Miami residency, and compose a new work that will be premiered during the Cleveland Orchestra's 2012-2013 season. Shepherd will also continue his post as the first-ever Composer in Residence of the Reno Philharmonic, his hometown orchestra, which is performing two new works by the composer under Music Director Laura Jackson.
Shepherd's Wanderlust, for which The Times (UK) lauded his "[use of] a profuse orchestral palette," was premiered in 2009 with the Cleveland Orchestra, and will once again bring him to Severance Hall with Franz Welser-Möst in 2012. Wanderlust will also be performed by the National Symphony Orchestra in November 2011, with Oliver Knussen at the podium. In early 2012, Shepherd will see performances of two new commissioned works: one for the Ensemble Intercontemporain and conductor Susanna Mälkki, which will receive premieres in Paris and Cologne, and another for the Claremont Trio at the opening of the new concert hall at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. In 2010, New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert led the world premiere of These Particular Circumstances, commissioned by the ensemble for the inaugural new music series CONTACT!, to much critical acclaim.
Shepherd has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including the 2009 triennial Benjamin H. Danks Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the 2008 Deutsche Bank Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin, and first-prize in the 2005 International Lutoslawski Award. He has attended masterclasses at Tanglewood (2005), Aspen (2006), and the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme (2007), and held a composer residency in the Fall of 2007 at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France. Shepherd has been honored with additional awards from organizations such as the Sue Knussen Composers Fund, ASCAP, and the National Society of Arts and Letters.
Originally from Reno, Nevada, and now residing in New York City, Shepherd's (b.1979) graduate studies include a Master's degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with composer Robert Beaser, and doctoral work at Cornell University with Roberto Sierra and Steven Stucky. Shepherd also holds degrees in composition and bassoon performance from Indiana University. Also active as a writer on music, his commentary has appeared in Playbill, WQXR's Q2 online blog, and on the American Music Center's NewMusicBox website.
For further biographical materials and works information, please visit www.boosey.com/shepherd
Photo credit: Jamie Kingham
