Two-time GRAMMY® nominee and American Prize-winner Benedict Sheehan has been called “a choral conductor and composer to watch in the 21st century” (ConcertoNet) and “one of the most important voices in American Orthodox choral music” (Choral Journal). He is artistic director and founder of Artefact Ensemble and the GRAMMY®-nominated Saint Tikhon Choir, and artist-in-residence at St. Tikhon’s Monastery in Pennsylvania. His compositions have been praised as “luminous and uplifting” (Choir & Organ), “evocative” (Gramophone), “hypnotically beautiful” (MusicWeb International), “fresh and vibrant” (Audiophile Audition) and “otherworldly” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), and his performances have likewise been described as “technically flawless” (Musical America), “choral singing at its most exquisite” (HRAudio), “extravagantly beautiful” (The American Organist) and “beyond praise for excellence” (Fanfare Magazine). His award-winning recordings with the Saint Tikhon Choir include his Eastern Orthodox liturgical works Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (2020) and Vespers (2021), as well as two acclaimed collaborations with Skylark Vocal Ensemble on Once Upon A Time (2020) and A Christmas Carol (2021), works for chorus and narrator.

In the fall of 2021 Sheehan conducted Artefact Ensemble in the world premiere of Arvo Pärt’s newest work, O Holy Father Nicholas, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Sheehan’s music has been performed by many of the leading choral ensembles around the United States, including a 2022 collaboration with Austin’s GRAMMY® Award-winning Conspirare on a setting of the African-American manifesto Credo by W.E.B. DuBois, and performances of selected movements from his Liturgy by the Portland State Chamber Choir at the World Choir Expo in Lisbon, Portugal.

Performances of Sheehan’s music in the 2022/23 season will include the U.K. premiere of A Christmas Carol by the BBC Singers at the Milton Court Theatre in London, the Midwest premiere of A Christmas Carol by the Kansas City Chorale, and the world premiere of Vespers in New York, performed by the Saint Tikhon Choir under Sheehan’s direction. His music is published by Oxford University Press and others and is widely available wherever music is sold.

Since childhood Sheehan has struggled with a pronounced, and sometimes debilitating, stutter. In recent years he has become an increasingly passionate advocate for people in the arts with disabilities and speech differences, and his projects and ensembles have become known within the choral community as welcoming, inclusive and life-affirming spaces for musicians and audiences alike. He lives and works in Pennsylvania with his wife and longtime musical collaborator Talia Maria Sheehan, and together they have seven daughters ranging in age from five to twenty-one, all of whom are actively involved in music-making in one capacity or another.

Visit www.benedictsheehanmusic.com to learn more.