The Department of Music is pleased to welcome David Bird and Sean Shepherd in Autumn 2022 as Visiting Assistant Professors of Music Composition. This two year appointment will see both Bird and Shepherd teaching private lessons and classes. Additionally, Bird will be in charge of the CHIME studio.
David Bird
David Bird is a composer, producer, and multimedia artist based in New York City. His work explores the dramatic potential of electroacoustic and multimedia environments, often highlighting the relationships between technology and the individual. Bird's compositions have been performed internationally, at festivals such as the MATA festival, TIME SPANS festival, Gaudeamus Festival, Wien Modern, SPOR festival, Musica Electronica Nova Festival, Giga-Hertz Festival, Festival Mixtur, and more. He has collaborated with groups such as JACK Quartet, Yarn/Wire, Talea Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble intercontemporain, Mantra Percussion, Vortex Ensemble, Mivos Quartet, Black Page Orchestra, AuditivVokal Dresden, loadbang, Bozzini Quartet, lovemusic, and andPlay. His work has been released on labels such as New Focus Recordings, Carrier Records, and TAK Editions, and has received praise from outlets such as The New York Times, The Wire, Textura, and "Best of Bandcamp." Read more.
Sean Shepherd
"An exciting composer of the new American generation" (New York Times),and a “vital taste of the future” (Boston Globe), Sean Shepherd has earned wide acclaim and commissions from major ensembles and performers across the US and Europe. His music has been commissioned and performed by the BBC, Chicago, Minnesota, Montréal, National, New World symphony orchestras, radio orchestras in Austria, France, and Germany, and by leading European ensembles including Ensemble intercontemporain, the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin, the Asko|Schönberg Ensemble and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Conductors who champion Shepherd’s work include Christoph Eschenbach, Alan Gilbert,Cristian Măcelaru, Susanna Mälkki, Donald Runnicles, and Franz Welser-Möst. His works have been performed at festivals in Aldeburgh, Heidelberg, La Jolla, Lucerne, Santa Fe, Aspen, the Grand Tetons, and Tanglewood. Read more.