Benedict Sheehan: Vespers The Saint Tikhon Choir & Benedict Sheehan

• Benedict Sheehan:
• 1 Sheehan: Vespers: No. 1, The Opening Psalm 09:08
• 2 Sheehan: Vespers: No. 2, Great Litany 05:10
• 3 Sheehan: Vespers: No. 3, Blessed Is the Man 03:00
• 4 Sheehan: Vespers: No. 4, Small Litany 01:36
• 5 Sheehan: Vespers: No. 5, The Lamp-Lighting Psalms 03:25
• 6 Sheehan: Vespers: No. 6, Stikhira of the Resurrection 10:00
• 7 Sheehan: Vespers: No. 7, O Gladsome Light 04:04
• 8 Sheehan: Vespers: No. 8, The Lord Is King 02:42
• 9 Sheehan: Vespers: No. 9, Evening Prayer 03:30
• 10 Sheehan: Vespers: No. 10, The Song of Simeon 05:00
• 11 Sheehan: Vespers: No. 11, Interlude. The Trisagion Prayers 01:54
• 12 Sheehan: Vespers: No. 12, Rejoice, O Virgin 03:34
• 13 Sheehan: Vespers: No. 13, The Closing Psalm 06:17
• Total Runtime 59:20

Info for Benedict Sheehan: Vespers

GRAMMY®-nominated conductor and composer Benedict Sheehan leads The Saint Tikhon Choir in his new setting of Eastern Orthodox Vespers in English. Inspired by the great All-Night Vigil setting by Rachmaninoff, Sheehan’s composition expands the genre with full settings of Psalms. Each verse is treated with deep musical pathos to express a full range of human emotion. Vespers also features virtuosic vocal concertos, including the first for basso profundo in English. Encounter this music that projects a vision of hope and light for all. The Saint Tikhon Choir was founded in 2015 by Benedict Sheehan, the group’s artistic director, and Abbot Sergius of St. Tikhon’s Monastery. It is the first professional vocal ensemble connected with an Orthodox monastery in America, founded with a mission to foster and build up the American Orthodox choral tradition at the highest artistic level.

The Saint Tikhon Choir
Benedict Sheehan, conductor

Benedict Sheehan
Composer and conductor Benedict Sheehan is described as “an up-and-coming conductor” (The Oregonian), “a rising star in the choral world” (Catholic Sentinel), and as having “set the bar for Orthodox liturgical music in the English-speaking world” (Orthodox Arts Journal). He is Director of Music at St. Tikhon’s Seminary and Monastery in Pennsylvania, Artistic Director of professional vocal ensemble The Saint Tikhon Choir, and CEO and co-founder of the Artefact Institute, a collective of “culture creators.” Sheehan has become one of the most sought-after clinicians for Orthodox sacred music in America. He has also appeared regularly as a guest conductor with Cappella Romana, leading works from the Slavic tradition, and is in high demand as a composer. His works have been performed by the GRAMMY®-nominated Skylark Vocal Ensemble, the GRAMMY®-nominated PaTRAM Institute Singers, Cappella Romana, the William Jewell Choral Scholars, Te Deum, the Pacific Youth Choir, and many others. His “story score” to two classic fairy tales, Once Upon a Time, was released in 2020 by Skylark, and has been called “evocative” (Gramophone), “quite extraordinary” (Limelight), “brilliant” (MetroWest Daily News), and “otherworldly” (Boston Musical Intelligencer). His new carol, Gabriel’s Message, was released in 2020 by The Oxford Choir, conducted by Bob Chilcott. Sheehan’s music is published by Oxford University Press, Artefact Publications, and Musica Russica.

The Saint Tikhon Choir
was founded in 2015 by its artistic director Benedict Sheehan and Abbot Sergius of St. Tikhon’s Monastery. It is the first professional vocal ensemble connected with an Orthodox monastery in America, founded with a mission to foster and build up the American Orthodox choral tradition at the highest artistic level. Its début recording, Till Morn Eternal Breaks: Sacred Choral Music of Benedict Sheehan (2015), was heralded as “delicate and subtle … at other times powerful and opulent … [a] cause for joy and hope” (Orthodox Arts Journal). In 2018, The Saint Tikhon Choir took part in the world première of Alexander Kastalsky’s monumental Requiem for Fallen Brothers, written in 1917 to commemorate the dead of World War I across national borders. This concert took place at Washington’s National Cathedral, performing in collaboration with the Clarion Choir, the Kansas City Chorale, the Cathedral Choral Society, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s under the baton of Leonard Slatkin. The project was heralded as one of the “Top Ten Performances of 2018” (Washington Classical Review) and “an unforgettable performance” (Washington Post). The world première recording of this historic project was released in August of 2020 on the Naxos label, débuting at #1 on Billboard, and hailed in early reviews as “tremendously dignified” (MusicWeb International) and “powerful” (Kansas City Star). Benedict Sheehan’s Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is The Saint Tikhon Choir’s third recording. On the web at sainttikhonchoir.org

Booklet for Benedict Sheehan: Vespers