Sean Shepherd

Sean Shepherd is an American composer based in New York City and Chicago. 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 Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and New World Symphony Orchestra, at festivals including the Aldeburgh Festival, Heidelberger Frühling, La Jolla Music Festival, Lucerne Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and Tanglewood, and with leading European ensembles including Ensemble Intercontemporain, 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. He performed his undergraduate work at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he studied under David Dzubay and American composer Claude Baker. His graduate work was completed at the Juilliard School, where he studied with American composer Robert Beaser, followed by doctoral studies under Puerto Rican Composer Roberto Sierra and American Composer Steven Stucky at Cornell University.

Career
In 2012, Shepherd was named the Kravis Emerging Composer of the New York Philharmonic. Shepherd's "Blue Blazes" premiered with National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach in 2013.

In 2021, Shepherd's work was featured at the Tanglewood Music Festival and at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. His work was deemed a "season highlight" when performed at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in 2021.

Shepherd served as a finalist judge in the 2021 Broadcast Music, Inc.'s 69th Annual Student Composer Awards.

He is currently a visiting assistant professor of composition at the University of Chicago.

In 2023, Shepherd was awarded the 2024 Charles Ives Living Award, which includes a 2 year stipend allowing a composter to focus solely on creating new 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