This is a superb effort on many fronts, not least of which is the quality of the work itself. The production is engineered by the wonderful technicians at Soundmirror, which is self-recommending, and the St. Tikhon’s ensemble is spot on, captured in brilliant surround sound. Here’s hoping that more releases like this, from Sheehan and others, are in the offing for the near future.
Read MoreMy own connection to music came about rather suddenly, and rather late, at least for someone hoping to become a professional musician. When I was 12 or 13 my grandmother (actually my grandfather’s second wife), who was neither a musician nor a religious person, sent me a cassette tape of Russian church music for male choir…I was the last kid you would expect to be interested in something like that…But something about this music absolutely riveted me. I played that tape until it literally wore out, and it sparked in me a burning passion for sacred choral music that has never gone out.
Read MoreAnyone interested in the music of the Orthodox church should investigate this high-quality release to discover how a composer of today is successfully building on and respecting the tradition of the past while renewing and expanding that tradition for our times.
Read MoreIf the underlying foundational element here is the shrouded somber aspect of the Russian soul…he works in a number of other traditions, including minimalism and an American folksong feeling. The result is surprisingly homogeneous, with some really gorgeously burnished choral moments.
Read More[Sheehan’s] contributions enact smooth segues between the spoken word sections and the musical settings, so smooth, in fact, they make everything feel as if it naturally fits together. Despite the fact that the music for the two works stems from a multitude of composers of varying nationalities, the sixty-eight-minute recording holds together remarkably well as a cohesive and seamlessly integrated presentation.
Read MoreIn both tales, Sheehan’s “Story Score” is a marvel in the way it illuminates the action and seems to connect so seamlessly with the existing choral works on either side. Walker’s narration is the epitome of shading and light, never histrionic or going in for obvious effect. Certainly hearing her “unaccompanied” would be a treat as well, but she sounds quite at home in this dynamic.
Read MoreSheehan, a rising star in the choral world, also chose, along with Cappella Romana’s artists, to combine English and Church Slavonic in various parts of the night’s performance. “Peter Illich Tchaikovsky, we owe you a debt of gratitude.”
Read MoreThis performance took a promising step toward establishing a new type of choral programming. Benedict Sheehan’s interstitial music bridged gaps smoothly and made some effective transitions of mood, key, and style between some very different choral works…
Read MoreSkylark’s stitching and dovetailing ends up working seamlessly because of composer Benedict Sheehan, who was given the task of connecting the dots. He enhanced the dialogue by writing a musical score that was played underneath the storyteller’s voice, serving up transitions from one song to another. His 14 short compositions work uncannily well, particularly those made for “Snow White.”
Read MoreThroughout 2020, we want to spend some time letting these new faces and voices tell you their stories — who they are, where they come from, what they’re working on, and what they hope for with respect to the musical and liturgical life of the Orthodox Church. Benedict Sheehan is the first of these you’re going to hear from…
Read MoreHere were two professional conductors, with years of study and experience-who in any other avenue of education I would not have a chance of access to- patiently guiding my hands through the air. I experimented with an unfamiliar skill over and over, implanting the new skill into the nerves in my muscles and the lines in my brain. Skillful surgeons of the heart, they sewed the wounds back together with the gentlest thread.
Read More…anchoring the entire affair there is the compelling music of Benedict Sheehan, now meditative, now jittery, and unfailingly interesting throughout the sixty-seven minutes of the album.
Read MoreSt. Tikhon’s music director is Benedict Sheehan, who played a key role in two of the 2019 Grammy-nominated projects for Best Choral Performance — the Clarion Choir’s recently released disc “Kastalsky: Memory Eternal” and the PaTRAM Institute Male Choir’s disc “Teach Me They Statutes.”
Read MoreBobby Maddex interviews Dn. Nicholas Kotar, Maria Sheehan, and Benedict Sheehan about the Artefact Institute, a new endeavor aimed at helping communities craft an immersive experience that includes the thinking and talking about and the doing of the components of Christian Culture.
Read MoreHis Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, who spoke at the end of the premiere, called the Liturgy “a milestone for Orthodox music in America.”
Read MoreAll of these influences coalesced to form a coherent and beautiful whole that succeeded brilliantly in elevating the minds and hearts of all those present to the contemplation of the very Source of Beauty – God Himself.
Read MoreI have never experienced anything so breathtakingly beautiful, so transparently luminous, so close to that border between heaven and earth as the premiere performance of Benedict Sheehan’s Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. There were moments during that performance that were so full of eternity, so full of wonder, so expressive of the “power of God and the wisdom of God,” that words, even as enthusiastic as these, fail to do justice to an experience in some way akin to that of the emissaries of Saint Vladimir who “knew not whether they were in heaven or on earth.”
Read MoreComposer Benedict Sheehan, Music Director of St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary & Monastery in South Canaan, PA, and Maria Sheehan, Vocalist, Teacher of Voice, Conducting & Music Theory and member of the St. Tikhon Choir, speaking about the 115th Annual Pilgrimage to St. Tikhon's Monastery May 24-27, 2019, and the world premiere of the "Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom" May 26
Read MoreThe fusion of intense work and reward during the two-day choral workshop was so inspiring that it was hard to let go. The Sheehans and Stephen Jacobs, Director of St. Michael’s Choir, agreed to an interview, which I hope translates some of the wisdom shared that weekend, if not the glory of singing together for 10 hours. – “As soon as you sing a note, it vanishes forever.”
Read MoreDespite growing up with a stutter, Benedict Sheehan, the music director at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Wayne County, has played a key role in two nominations for this Sunday’s Grammy’s.
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