Benedict Sheehan

Three-time GRAMMY® nominee and American Prize-winner Benedict Sheehan has been called “one of the leading voices in religious classical music in the 21st century” (ConcertoNet) and “a remarkable musician and composer” (Choral Journal). He is Artistic Director and founder of the GRAMMY®-nominated Artefact Ensemble and a full-time freelance composer. His compositions have been praised as “luminous and uplifting” (Choir & Organ), “evocative” (Gramophone), “hypnotically beautiful” (MusicWeb International), “fresh and vibrant” (Audiophile Audition), “otherworldly” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), “monumental” (The Arts Desk, UK), and “simply breathtaking” (New York Concert Review). His performances as a conductor 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). Sheehan’s award-winning recordings include Akathist (2024) (GRAMMY® nominated), Vespers (2021) (American Prize Winner), Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (2020) (GRAMMY® nominated), as well as two acclaimed collaborations with Skylark Vocal Ensemble on Once Upon A Time (2020) (GRAMMY® nominated) and A Christmas Carol (2021). In 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—and continues to be performed—by many of today’s leading choral ensembles, including a 2022 collaboration with Conspirare on a setting of the African-American manifesto Credo by W.E.B. DuBois, and the UK premiere of A Christmas Carol by the BBC Singers at the Barbican in London. A Christmas Carol was also featured on the Voces8 “Live From London” webcast in December of 2023, and the work is fast becoming a seasonal favorite, getting performed on an annual basis by dozens of groups across North America. His Ukrainian War Requiem, honoring the victims of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, was premiered in April of 2024 by Axios Men’s Ensemble and Pro Coro Canada in Edmonton and Calgary, and the recording of it will be released in 2025 on the Cappella Records label. His music is published by Oxford University Press, Artefact Publications, Hal Leonard, and others, and is available wherever music is sold. 

Sheehan is also a person who stutters. 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’s Lehigh Valley with his wife and longtime collaborator Talia Sheehan, and together they have seven daughters who range in age from seven to twenty-three.