Zach Sheets (b. 1991) enjoys a multi-faceted career as a composer, flutist, and chamber musician.

Zach’s works have been performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble (USA), Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (CA), Ensemble InterContemporain (FR), Ensemble Plural (ESP), Ogni Suono (US), Wolftone (US/DE), Duo Axis (US), and more. Following a month-long residency with the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne in the FORUM international des jeunes compositeurs in Montréal in 2016, he was awarded the 1° prix du jury and the 2016 Prix Lorraine Vaillancourt. He was composer-in-residence for the Vermont Symphony in 2016.

Other accolades include artist residencies at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, the Buffalo Creative Arts Initiative, and Marble House. He received a 2020 Emerging Artist Award from the St. Botolph Club, a 2020 grant from the Boston Cultural Council, and an Artist Development Fellowship from the Harvard Office for the Arts.

As a flutist with [Switch~ Ensemble], Duo Axis, and as a freelance performer, Zach has performed hundreds of premieres and commissioned dozens of major new works. Prominent credits include performances at the Britten-Pears, Royaumont, June in Buffalo, ManiFeste, Klangspuren, Harvard Group for New Music, and TIME:SPANS Festivals. In 2016 he was Principal Flute for the North American Premiere of Helmut Lachenmann’s Das mädchen mit den schwefelhölzern at the Spoleto Festival. Other engagements include performances with Ulysses Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, Ensemble Signal, Callithumpian Consort and more, under the baton of Heinz Holliger, Jean-Philippe Wurtz, Brad Lubman, Oliver Knussen, Jim Baker, and others.

Zach studied with Chaya Czernowin, Robert Morris, and many other important mentors (see CV for complete list). BM, Harvard University; MM (flute) & MM (composition) Eastman School of Music.

An advocate for the arts on-stage and off, Zach has held prominent leadership roles with ensembles and community arts organizations, including as Managing Director of Talea Ensemble, Managing Director of the [Switch~ Ensemble], and Manager of Institutional Giving at Community Music Center of Boston. In his current roles, he raises over $1 million annually for new music and arts education.