Rhian_Sheehan

Rhian Sheehan

New Zealand composer

Rhian Sheehan is a New Zealand composer and producer born in Nelson and now based in Wellington. He is known for his fusing of orchestral chamber music and piano, with ambient electronic and post-rock cinematic atmospheres. He has also written music for film, television, video games, exhibitions, advertisements, roller coaster rides, and planetarium dome shows.

Career

Sheehan released his debut album Paradigm Shift in 2001.^[1] The record was issued in the UK almost two years later in 2003, and received praise from music critics. In 2004, Britain's Future Music Magazine magazine named Sheehan as "The Next Big Thing" in ambient music. His 2009 album Standing in Silence, 2013's Stories from Elsewhere, and 2018's A Quiet Divide step away from his earlier electronica work into more of a shoegaze, post-rock, ambient, chamber music direction. Eminent US reviewer John Diliberto (host of Echoes) called Stories from Elsewhere "a modern ambient chamber music masterpiece of quietly epic dimensions".^[2]

Sheehan's work has featured on a variety of compilations, most notably the multi-platinum selling Cafe del Mar^[3] anthologies (vol. 10^[4] and 11^[5]). His music has been heard on BBC's Top Gear, as well as The Discovery Channel, the National Geographic channel, and the HBO series Silicon Valley. His compositions have also been used in a variety of advertisements, including for such companies as Google, Facebook, Nike, and GoPro. In 2009, Sheehan composed the soundtrack to the British National Space Centre's We Are Astronomers, a 360° fulldome film (narrated by David Tennant). The same year, the artist wrote the score to the 13-part prime-time TV drama series The Cult^[6] (for which he was awarded a Qantas Film & TV Award for best original score), and the Emmy Award-winning web series Reservoir Hill. In 2012, Sheehan penned the score to the UK 3D planetarium documentary film We Are Aliens (narrated by Rupert Grint).

In July 2012, Japan's Preco Records released Sheehan's most recent albums Standing in Silence and Seven Tales of The North Wind together as a limited-edition double box set that included a remix of the track "Borrowing the Past" by American post-rock ambient group Hammock.

In March 2013, American label Darla Records released Stories from Elsewhere. The album was also released in Japan by Preco Records, and in New Zealand and Australia by LOOP Recordings. In October 2013, Sheehan completed writing the soundtrack to the US and UK-produced fulldome film Back to the Moon for Good. Commissioned by X Prize, the film is narrated by Tim Allen. The 25-minute digital production highlights the history of Moon exploration and provides an insider's look at the teams vying for the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize. The film was produced by the British National Space Centre, the X Prize Foundation, and Robert K. Weiss.^[7] The show is one of the most popular planetarium shows ever made, having screened in over 450 venues across the world.^[8]

In 2014, Sheehan contributed string arrangements for Jakob's album Sines. The record won the Taite Music Prize in 2015.^[9] In July 2015, Sheehan wrote and produced the orchestral soundtrack for the British 3D planetarium fulldome film We Are Stars (narrated by Andy Serkis), for which he was awarded "Best Soundtrack" at The 2015 Fiske Fulldome Film Festival.^[10] In August 2015, the artist released his first live album, Rhian Sheehan - Live at The Wellington Opera House.^[11] In December 2016, he scored the soundtrack for Weta Workshop's new Dr. Grordbort's exhibition.

The 2017 debut album SweetSexySavage by American R&B artist Kehlani features a sample of the Rhian Sheehan track "Waiting". The sample is used as the backbone to the track "Not Used to It".

In October 2018, Sheehan wrote the music for Magic Leap and Weta Workshop's 3D mixed-reality game Dr. Grordbort's Invaders.

On 12 October 2018, Loop Recordings & Kobalt Music released Sheehan's album A Quiet Divide. The album reached no.2 on the NZ Top 20.^[12]

In September 2019, Sheehan travelled to New York with artist Joseph Michael to collaborate on a large-scale audio-visual installation projected on the United Nations building. The installation ran for three nights, leading up to the UN Climate Action Summit. The art piece featured an original score by Sheehan and music by Brian Eno, and included the voices of six young climate change activists.^[13]

In January 2022, Sheehan composed the orchestral score for the roller coaster ride "Mission Ferrari" at Ferrari World, in Abu Dhabi.^[14]

Discography

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[discogs2002-1] [1]
"Rhian Sheehan – Paradigm Shift (2002, CD) - Discogs". Discogs.

[2] [2]
"Rhian Sheehan's Ambient Music Box Symphony". May 2013.

[3] [3]
Cafe del mar

[4] [4]
"Café Del Mar - Volumen Diez (2003, Digipak, CD) - Discogs". Discogs.

[5] [5]
Cafe del mar#Volume 11 (once)

[6] [6]
The Cult (TV series)

[7] [7]
"Fulldome Planetarium Show | Google Lunar XPRIZE". Archived from the original on 24 October 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2013.

[8] [8]
"Fulldome Planetarium Show". Archived from the original on 8 October 2014.

[9] [9]
"Jakob awarded Taite Music Prize". 15 April 2015.

[10] [10]
"We Are Stars – 360-degree science documentary from NSC Creative". Wearestars360.com. Retrieved 4 May 2022.

[11] [11]
"Live at the Wellington Opera House, by Rhian Sheehan".

[12] [12]
"The Official New Zealand Music Chart".

[13] [13]
"Voices for the Future: Climate activism lights up the UN – in pictures". The Guardian. 20 September 2019.

[14] [14]
"The Abyss Re-release Trailer Music".

[15] [15]
"Rhian and Raashi in India". RNZ. 12 June 2010. Retrieved 25 December 2023.

[16] [16]
"Saturday Morning for Saturday 8 May 2010 Saturday Morning".

[17] [17]
"The Abyss Re-release Trailer Music".

[18] [18]
"Rhian Sheehan - Tiny Blue Biosphere". Discogs.

[19] [19]
"Rhian Sheehan – Music for Nature Documentaries (2004, CD)". Discogs.

[20] [20]
"Rhian Sheehan – Standing in Silence (2008, CD)". Discogs.

[Music_|_Rhian_Sheehan-21] [21]
"Music | Rhian Sheehan". Rhiansheehan.bandcamp.com. 25 January 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2022.

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Rhian_Sheehan

Rhian Sheehan

Career

Personal life

Discography

Albums

Film and television soundtrack credits

Compilation appearances

Album appearances

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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