Sheehan, Kelley
is a composer and electronic musician moving between electroacoustic, multimedia, and performance art works. Her work has been described as “full of discovery, cooperation and unpredictability” (Gaudeamus Award jury) and “shatteringly visceral” (VAN Magazine).
In any medium, her work constructs environments meant to merge electronic and acoustic forces into one composite organism, dependent on this merging to become more than just an extension of itself. Her work focuses on sculpting noise, shifting materiality, housing structures, and machinery.
Beyond composition, she is an active performer, integrating custom-built electronics, extended instrumental techniques including machine learning, and live processing into her practice. She has performed at venues such as the Banff Center for the Arts, Art Institute of Chicago, Goethe Institute of Boston and the impuls International Contemporary Music Festival.
She is Assistant Professor of Composition and Music Technology at the Bienen School of Music. She holds a PhD in Music Composition from Harvard University, where she studied with Chaya Czernowin and Hans Tutschku.
Selected works: Three Movements for chamber ensemble (2016–17), tech bite for slide whistle, contact microphone, small amplifier, multieffect pedal and pocket operator (2017). Talk Circus for two percussionists and one musician on no-input mixer (2018). four sharp cornersfor amplified prepared string quartet and materials (2018). circle speak for maze toy and electronics (2018; rev. 2022), a series of colors for snare drum, light and tape (2018), zP42 for trombone, no-input mixers, video and more (2018–), From gathered leaves and flowers we build ourselvesfor string trio, MIDI keys and electronics (2018–19), R.A.M for any four instruments and video score (2019), eyes on for electric guitar, flute, clarinet and feedback (2019), Brainzaps for flexible trio, tape and video (2020), *()the drummer for drum set, 1–2 noisemakers, baritone saxophone and tape (2020), et error no. 2 for amplified piccolo and wind-up toys (2021), new ears for solo or duo using speaker-instruments (2021), Speaker Spit for large ensemble, conductor, tape and live processing (2021), the bends for cello, bass clarinet / contrabass clarinet, violin, percussion, alto flute, three DIY speaker operators, two sound engineers and one electronics musician (2021), acoustic sourings for two pianos with feedback and two percussionists with electronics (2022–23), creature like lichen for amplified violin, cello, piccolo, trumpet, electric guitar, MIDI keyboard, B♭ clarinet and live processing (2022), consumed; teeth shut for amplified soprano, baritone, bass clarinet, percussion and double bass (2022), nerve shrouded wire for amplified Pierrot ensemble, mezzo-soprano, percussion and electronics (2023), Splitting to Collapsefor large ensemble and fixed media (2023), inefficient sky for accordion / open instrumentation, percussion, MIDI keyboard, video and electronics (2024), shy crown for percussion, speaker cones and electronics (2024), strainer for large ensemble (2024), Ten Thousand One Hundred and Fifty Eight Divisions (2026).