Sean Shepherd's "Dust" for Violin and Piano

The first movement of his Sonata for Violin and Piano, Sean Shepherd's "Dust" is a complex atmospheric sound piece of shimmering beauty. It received an unforgettable performance of precision and balance at the ACA Festival in 2011 by Canadian violinist, Veronique Mathieu, and pianist David Kaplan.

Called “sharp and fierce” (Feast of Music) with “a wonderful way of making the orchestra shimmer” (Sequenza 21), Sean Shepherd’s music has gained him admiration and return engagements with major ensembles across the US and Europe. Performances include those with the National, BBC and New World Symphonies, festivals in Aldeburgh, Santa Fe and La Jolla, the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin, and appearances with the Asko|Schönberg Ensemble in Amsterdam and on the Heidelberger Fruhling Festival in Spring 2011.

“Shepherd uses a profuse orchestral palette well,” observes The Times|UK, and the New York Times notes his “kaleidoscopic use of orchestral color.” Conductor Oliver Knussen premiered Sean’s Wanderlust with the Cleveland Orchestra in 2009, and Alan Gilbert led the premiere of These Particular Circumstances, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for the inaugural season of CONTACT!, the New Music Series in April 2010,