In Friday’s (8/3) Boston Globe, David Weininger writes, “It’s always difficult to pinpoint where a composer is on the spectrum that runs from ‘emerging’ to ‘emerged.’ But wherever Sean Shepherd is in the process, he’s moving quickly. Shepherd, 33, a native of Reno, has had a number of high-profile premieres over the last year, including performances by the National Symphony Orchestra and the Ensemble Intercontemporain. Just weeks ago, he became the first recipient of the Kravis Emerging Composer award, a $50,000 commission from the New York Philharmonic. The commission will be his second work for the Philharmonic; he is also in the midst of writing his second piece for the Cleveland Orchestra. Shepherd also has significant ties to Massachusetts, and three of his works will be performed here over the next week and a half. His ‘Trio’ is on a Claremont Trio program at the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, and two pieces—’Quartet’ for oboe and strings, and ‘These Particular Circumstances’ for chamber orchestra—will be played at the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music. … Shepherd rarely begins a piece with preconceived musical material. More often, he starts with a visual stimulus: an image of the notes on the page or of the music being enacted on stage.”
Posted August 3, 2012
