Aaron Sheehan, Tenor – Helen Sykes Artists' Management

Aaron Sheehan

TENOR

Described as “one of the finest Baroque tenors on the circuit…with polished, lovely tone”.

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Equally at home on the concert platform and the opera stage, Aaron Sheehan sang the title role in Boston Early Music Festival’s recording of Charpentier’s La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers which won Best Opera Recording at the 2015 GRAMMY AWARDS.

Read Aaron Sheehan’s full biography below.

Current Highlights

Thespis and Mercure Platée with Philharmonia Baroque

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Charpentier’s Actéon and songs by Purcell with Opera Lafayette

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Recording of Ulysse in Desmaret’s Circé and performances of Lully’s L’idylle sur la paix with Boston Early Music Festival

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Messiah with New Jersey Symphony

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“Sheehan’s singing captured the anger and dire warning of “Falscher Heuchler Ebenbild,” his voice ringing like a bell in his upper register.”
AARON KEEBAUGH  BOSTON CLASSICAL REVIEW

“The tenor Aaron Sheehan, brought shining quality and deep sensitivity to the title role (Orfeo).”
JAMES OESTREICH  NEW YORK TIMES

“…Aaron Sheehan swanned through as Orfeo, singing beautifully while dispensing vanity and attitude, flirting and grandstanding with fans and patrons…”
DAVID SHENGOLD  OPERA MAGAZINE

“Gabrielle Philiponet and Aaron Sheehan rendered the love duet in the final act in brilliant, crystalline colors.”
JOSHUA KOSMAN  SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

“Sheehan, who sang the “Quoniam tu solus sanctus” with tenderness and grace.”
AARON KEEBAUGH  BOSTON CLASSICAL REVIEW

“Aaron Sheehan put his vocal flexibility and honeyed tone to good use as the god Apollo and the magnanimous king Trajan.”
ILANA WALDER-BIESANZ  BACHTRACK

“The most impressive performance comes from Aaron Sheehan (as Ulisse’s son Telemaco) whose light lyrical voice delivers the music with utter naturalness.”
ANTHONY PRYER  BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

“To single out Saturday’s star, it’s hard to imagine a better reading of the central part of Orfeo himself than the one given by the young American tenor Aaron Sheehan.”
GEORGE HARPER  BOSTON MUSICAL INTELLIGENCER

Biography

Biography

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Described by the Boston Globe as “one of the finest Baroque tenors on the circuit … his tone classy, clear and refined, encompassing fluid lyricism and ringing force,”   American Tenor Aaron Sheehan portrayed the title role in Boston Early Music Festival’s recording of Charpentier’s La descente d’Orphée aux Enfers which won Best Opera Recording at the 2015 GRAMMY Awards.

A first-rate interpreter of Bach, Handel and Mozart, Aaron Sheehan has performed with American Bach Soloists, Boston Baroque, Boston Early Music Festival, Calgary Philharmonic, Charlotte Symphony, Handel and Haydn Society, North Carolina Symphony, New York Collegium, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Music Works, National Symphony of Peru, Seattle Symphony and Tafelmusik.

His extensive concert repertoire includes Bach Easter Oratorio, St Matthew Passion, St John Passion, Mass in B Minor, Magnificat, Handel Alexander’s Feast, Messiah, Samson and Saul, Monteverdi Vespers, Mozart Mass in C minor and Requiem and Rameau Cantatas.

He made his professional operatic début with Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF) as Ivan in the world première staging of Mattheson’s Boris Gudenow, for which Opera News praised his voice as “sinous and supple”.  His further roles for BEMF have included L’Amour and Apollon in Lully’s Psyché, Actéon in Charpentier’s Actéon, Monteverdi’s Orfeo, Eurimaco Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Liberto/Soldato L’incoronazione di Poppea, Acis in Handel’s Acis and Galatea, Orfeo in Campra’s Le Carnaval de Venise and leading roles in operas by Cavalli, Weill and Satie.

Other staged performances have included Apollon and Trajan in Rameau’s Le Temple de la Gloire with Philharmonia Baroque, The Orpheus Project with New Zealand Dance Company, Eumete Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria with Opera Atelier, Dom Pedro and Ottavio in Campra’s L’Europe galante for the Centre de Music Baroque de Versailles at the Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, and Mr By-Ends The Pilgrim’s Progress with Gloriae Dei Cantores, and the title role in Gluck’s Orphée with Pacific Music Works.

Aaron Sheehan recently made his débuts at the Handel Festival in Halle in La resurrezione and performed Jonathan Saul with Philharmonia Baroque and in the BAROCKTAGE festival at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin in Scarlatti’s Oratorio a Quattro Voci under Fabio Biondi.  Other recent performances include Orlando Orlando generoso, ‘Versailles, a royal domain’ and Demetrius in Graupner’s Antiochus and Stratonica with Boston Early Music Festival, Mozart Mass in C Minor at the Handel and Haydn Society, Messiah with Les Violons du Roy in Quebec and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa.

His forthcoming engagements include Thespis and Mercure Platée with Philharmonia Baroque, Charpentier’s Actéon and songs by Purcell with Opera Lafayette, a recording of Ulysse in Desmaret’s Circé and performances of Lully’s L’idylle sur la paix with Boston Early Music Festival and Messiah with New Jersey Symphony.  (Several other future performances were cancelled or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

A native of Minnesota, Aaron Sheehan holds a BA from Luther College and a MM in Early Voice Performance from Indiana University. 

This biography is not for publication.  Please contact the office for an updated version.

Media

Comfort Ye
Messiah (Handel)
Comfort YeMessiah (Handel)
Euridice n'est plus
La descente d'Orphée aux enfers (Charpentier)
Euridice n'est plusLa descente d'Orphée aux enfers (Charpentier)
Op. 31, Pastoral
Serenade for tenor, horn and strings (Britten)
Op. 31, PastoralSerenade for tenor, horn and strings (Britten)
Ce seroit Grand Dommage
Psyché (Lully)
Ce seroit Grand DommagePsyché (Lully)

Discography

Aaron Sheehan – Total Eclipse: Music for Handel's Tenor – Naxos album

Handel: Total Eclipse


Grammy Award-winning tenor Aaron Sheehan steps into John Beard’s shoes equipped with a voice of ‘shining quality and deep sensitivity’ (The New York Times) in this début solo album with Stephen Stubbs (conductor, lute and guitar) and Pacific MusicWorks Orchestra on Naxos label.

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“From the first notes of the Pacific MusicWorks Orchestra and the opening words of the aria “Give the vengeance due,” it is clear that this album is superlative … Sheehan manages to create the kind of pathos, urgency, anguish, and sincerity that might otherwise only be achievable onstage, with all the benefits of body language and facial expression. Handel’s arias call for both strength and flexibility, and Sheehan provides both in spades… It might be fair to say, after hearing this album, that Handel has a new tenor.
Karen Cook, Early Music America – Read the full review

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“…To step into John Beard’s shoes requires an extraordinary tenor, and Grammy awarded Aaron Sheehan seems to have all the necessary attributes: beautiful voice, technically faultless, superb articulation, expressivity and good sense for rhythm…”
Göran Forsling, MusicWeb International – Read the full review

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“…Meeting the demands of Händel’s vocal writing typically consumes singers’ resources, but the abundance of this singer’s technical wherewithal enables him to explore textual subtleties without jeopardizing musical adroitness…Wholly comfortable with Eighteenth-Century modes of expression, Sheehan affirms that this is music to be felt, not merely sung…
Voix des Arts – Joseph Newsome – Read the full review

Aaron Sheehan – Handel's

Handel: “Acis & Galatea”


Appears in the title role of Acis with the Boston Early Music Festival, directed by Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs (CPO Label).

Aaron Sheehan – Charpentier’s La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers and La Couronne de Fleurs

Charpentier: La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers and La Couronne de Fleurs


2015 GRAMMY Award-Winning CD for Best Opera Recording – Aaron appears in the title role of Orphée with the Boston Early Music Festival, directed by Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs (CPO Label).

Aaron Sheehan – Steffani's Niobe, Regina di Tebe

Steffani: Niobe, Regina di Tebe


GRAMMY-Nominated for Best Opera Recording 2016 – Aaron appears in the role of Clearte with the Boston Early Music Festival, directed by Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs (Erato Label).

Aaron Sheehan – Monteverdi's Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria

Monteverdi: Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria


GRAMMY-Nominated for Best Opera Recordng 2016 – Aaron appears in the role of Telemaco with Boston Baroque, directed by Martin Pearlman (Linn Records).

Aaron Sheehan – Charpentier's Actéon

Charpentier: Actéon


Aaron sung the title role of Actéon with the BEMF, directed by Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs (CPO Label).

Aaron Sheehan – Lully’s “Psyché” Roles of “L’Amour” and “Apollon”

Lully: “Psyché” Roles of “L’Amour” and “Apollon”


GRAMMY-Nominated for Best Opera Recording 2009 – appeared with the BEMF, directed by Paul O’dette and Stephen Stubbs (CPO Label).

Contact

Helen Sykes
+44 (0)7799 673367
helen@helensykesartists.co.uk

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