Zach Sheets (b. 1991) enjoys a multi-faceted career as a chamber musician, orchestral flutist, composer/performer, and advocate for funding in the arts and music education. Zach has appeared as guest Principal Flute with the Boston Ballet and Spoleto Festival USA; the Portland, Albany and Cape Symphonies; and the Phoenix, Unitas, and Cape Cod Chamber Orchestras; and as a guest of the Boston Pops, Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Chorus Pro Musica, and New World Symphony. At age 23, Zach was named Principal Flute, Lyndon Paul Lorusso Chair, of the Cape Symphony Orchestra, and held that role for 9 seasons. He is a founding member of the [Switch~ Ensemble] and flute & piano Duo Axis.

Awards include a 2021 Artist Fellowship from the Mass Cultural Council, a 2020 St. Botolph Club Emerging Artist Award, 3rd prize in the 2019 San Diego Flute Guild Young Artist Competition, 1st prize in the 2017 Byron Hester Competition, and 1st prize in the 2015 Tallon Perkes Competition.

Festival engagements include performances at the Spoleto (USA), Aldeburgh (UK), Cabrillo (USA), Royaumont (FR), Britten-Pears (UK), TIME:SPANS (USA), ManiFeste@IRCAM (FR), Klangspuren (AUT), SinusTON (GER), CulturaUNAM (MEX, and June in Buffalo (USA) Festivals. During his two summers with the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra, he performed as principal flute for the North American premiere of Helmut Lachenmann’s Das mädchen mit den schwefelhölzern and gave the premiere of his own solo flute work on Spoleto’s Music in Time series.

As a composer himself, Zach’s works have been performed in the U.S. and abroad by some of the world’s foremost interpreters of contemporary music, including the Ensemble InterContemporain, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. In November of 2016 he completed a month-long residency with the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne at their renowned FORUM international des jeunes compositeurs, for which his new work, from cairn terrain, was awarded the 1° prix du jury and the 2016 Lorraine Vaillancourt Prize.

Zach lives in Boston and works as a freelance flutist and composer. He is the Chief Advancement Officer at Community Music Center of Boston, where he manages a $15 million capital campaign to support arts in the public schools. MM/Performer’s Certificate, Eastman School of Music; BA, Harvard College. www.zachsheetsmusic.com