American Tenor Aaron Sheehan, recognized internationally as a leading interpreter of baroque repertoire, is equally at home on the concert platform and the opera stage. He 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. Aaron Sheehan made his professional operatic début with Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF) as Ivan, in the world premiere staging of Mattheson’s Boris Gudenow, a role for which Opera News praised his voice as “sinous and supple”. Further roles with BEMF have included L’ Amour and Apollon in Lully’s Psyché, Actéon in Charpentier’s Actéon, Orfeo, Eurimaco Il ritorno d’Ullise in patria, Liberto/Soldado L’incoronazione di Poppea and Acis Acis and Galatea. He also performed leading roles in operas by Cavalli, Handel, Vaughan Williams, Weill, and Satie. Aaron Sheehan’s voice has been described by the Boston Globe as “superb: his tone classy, clear, and refined, encompassing fluid lyricism and ringin force” and the Washington Post praised his “Polished, lovely tone.” Engagements have taken him to many major venues including the Tanglewood Festival, Lincoln Center, Concert Gebauw, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Gran Teatro Nacional del Perú, Beethoven Festival Warsaw, Boston Symphony Hall, Musikfestspiele Postdam Sanssouci, Royal Opera at Versailles, Washington National Cathedral, and the Early Music festivals of Boston, San Francisco, Vancouver, Houston, Tucson, and Washington DC, as well as the Regensburg Tage Alter Musik.
Aaron Sheehan also enjoys a reputation as a first-rate interpreter of the oratorios and cantatas of Bach and Handel and the oratorios and masses of Mozzart. He has performed concerts with Seattle Symphony, American Bach Soloists, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Early Music Festival, Boston Baroque, Tafelmusik, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional del Perú, Philharmonia Baroque, North Carolina Symphony, New York Collegium, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony, Musica Angelica, Charleston Bach Festival, Baltimore Handel Choir, Les Voix Baroque, Pacific Chorale, Tempesta di Mare, Aston Magna Festival, Bach Collegium San Diego, Pacific Music Works, Boston Museum Trio, Tragicomedia, and Concerto Palatino. Recent performances have included, Orfeo Le Carnaval de Venise with Boston Early Music Festival, Apollon and Trajan in Rameau’s Le Temple de la Glorie with Philharmonia Baroque, 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, The Orpheus Project (a dance programme centring on works featuring the Orfeo myth) with New Zealand Dance Company, the title role in Gluck’s Orphée with Pacific Music Works, Messiah with Seattle Symphony and Boston Baroque, Alexander’s Feast and Messiah with American Bach Soloists, and performances of Bach Easter Oratorio, Charpentier La Fête de Ruel, Handel Messiah, Monteverdi Vespers and Rameau Cantatas. Aaron Sheehan’s forthcoming performances include Orlando Orlando generoso with Boston Early Music Festival, Glaucus Scylla et Glaucus with Philharmonia Baroque, Demetrius Antiochus und Stratonica with Boston Early Music Festival, San Giovanni in Scarlatti’s Oratorio a Quattro Voci with Berlin State Opera, and further performances of St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, and Messiah. A native of Minnesota, Aaron Sheehan holds a BA from Luther College and a MM in Early Voice performance from Indiana University.
