Conductor–composer Jack Sheen joins MA roster
Maestro Arts is delighted to welcome Jack Sheen to the roster as conductor and composer. Not yet 30, Sheen has blazed a trail in both areas, having conducted and had his music premiered by leading orchestras, and often conducting the first performances of his own work. Passionate about crossing the borders between art forms, he has collaborated in many cross-arts projects and installations and co-directs the London Contemporary Music Festival.
As a conductor, Sheen has worked with orchestras including London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic and London Sinfonietta, and he made his Royal Opera House debut in October conducting Oliver Leith’s Last Days to great acclaim. This season he works with London Sinfonietta at Southbank Centre in a programme of new work including his own Phant Heap Render, as well as at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, and makes his debut with Bit20 Ensemble at the Borealis Festival in Bergen and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
Rachel van Walsum, Director and Co-founder of Maestro Arts, said: ‘We’re extremely excited to be working with Jack. I’ve been following his career closely over the last few years and have been hugely impressed not only by the sheer quality and range of his work as a conductor and composer, but also the integrity and commitment he brings to everything he does. He shares our vision of bringing varied art forms together, and his impressive track record of putting this idea into action makes him a truly 21st-century artist. We look forward to discovering new paths and opportunities with him.’
In our feature interview, Sheen explains what drives him: ‘I really value wide perspectives on all art and believe that the next important step for classical music is to bring it into dialogue with wider cultural conversation, rather than changing the art itself or the rituals that surround it. This is a responsibility for artists and curators. But I don’t have any big political agenda or anything, if I’m honest: as a conductor, I just want to make the music I love the most and a lot of that happens to be made now.’
Next concert
Jack Sheen conducts London Sinfonietta in works by Lisa Streich, Tyshawn Sorey, Juste Janulyte and Salvatore Sciarrino, and the world premiere of his own Phant Heap Render, on 2 December at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.
Read an interview with Jack Sheen.
Read his biography.
