Dan Sheehan (3)

Dan Sheehan (b. 1988) is an improvising pianist and composer from Melbourne, Australia, engaged in writing and performing original music. His work reflects passions for the jazz tradition, post-jazz integration of 20th century classical languages, and experimentation with electro-acoustic techniques. Through these practices he aims to promote a distinct synthesis between improvisation and composition, regarding both elements as equally powerful approaches to live performance. Sheehan has worked with the Australian Art Orchestra, the Monash Art Ensemble, and has collaborated with a diverse array of creative practitioners including woodwind specialist Tony Hicks, percussionist Christian Windfeld (Denmark) and dancer/performance artist Elnaz Sheshgelani. Sheehan leads Infinite Ape, an evolving improvisational collective for which he has composed extensively, with three album releases to-date. His 2013 debut, Infinite Ape, saw him recognized as a finalist for Young Jazz Artist of the Year at the Australian Bell Awards. As a graduate of Monash University, Sheehan’s academic work is closely tied to his composition and performance practices, demonstrated in his 2017 MA thesis The Improvisational Etude: a Model for Creative Practice, along with research into the music of Tim Berne. He has studied locally with Tony Gould, Tim Stevens and Marc Hannaford, and in New York with Kris Davis, Tim Berne and Ralph Alessi. He has undertaken study residencies at the Banff Centre (Canada), the School for Improvisational Music (New York), and the Australian Art Orchestra’s intercultural Creative Music Intensive. Outside the performance sphere, Sheehan is a passionate music educator with over ten years’ teaching experience. He is involved in arts management and production, currently serving as Operations & Finance Coordinator at Chamber Made, and previously as Associate Producer with the Australian Art Orchestra.