Biography

Sean Quinn (they/them) is an Australian composer, vocalist, and writer based in Berlin (DE). More recently, their practices revolve around processes of accumulation and communication in composition; growing, extracting, learning, adapting; expanding upon itself from one form to the next while retaining a semblance of its past self. The body – particularly the queer body – and its complexities are also key points of inspiration in Sean’s ongoing practice as a composer and performer.

Sean has worked in solo, electroacoustic, chamber and large ensemble spaces during their career, proving to be an active and ‘formidable’ (Sounds Like Sydney) member of the national and international contemporary music scene. Their work has been played in a vareity of esteemed venues around the world, including Cankarjevem Dom, Alte Feuerwache Köln, Bled Festival Hall, Iwaki Auditorium, Elizabeth Murdoch Hall (MRC), Studio Musikfabrik Köln and more.

Milestone performances have outlined Sean’s early career, including the commissioning of death and desire (2022-23) by Peter Veale and Studio Musikfabrik, as well as the cello concerto, let it pass, let it pass… (2023-24), which was performed to critical acclaim in the closing concert of the .abeceda contemporary music festival in Bled (2024) where they have been an ongoing composer-in-residence with the institut .abeceda since 2022. Sean holds close collaborative partnerships with many internationally renowned performers, including cellist Urban Megušar (SL), Aditya Bhat (AU), clarinetist Richard Haynes (CH), flutist Eric Lamb (USA/OS), institut .abeceda (SL), and has received commissions from groups such as Ensemble Offspring (AU), Brightwork Ensemble (US), .abeceda and more.

They have held Artist-in-Residence positions at Arts Numbers & Letters (2023) and Chateau Orquevaux (2023) and have participated as a composer fellow in Ensemble Offspring’s Hatched HOME Academy (2021) and Hatched Composer Intensive in Sydney (2022), the New Music on the Point Festival in Vermont (2021), INMF (2021), Low Frequency Generator (2024) and the Suncoast Composer Fellowship (2024).

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PRESS

‘Through the intricacies of the textures and timbres of incubation, Sean Quinn gives us in this piece a richly layered meeting of time. The past is not a dead thing; the future is not an abstract concept: together they coalesce as components of a living, breathing present.’ (Ian Parsons, PBS Radio 106.7FM The Sound Barrier)

‘innovative, thorough, precise and imaginative’ (Richard Haynes, clarinetist)

‘eve (I) by Sean X. Quinn, a formidable vocal soliloquy receives its world premiere. Incorporating glissandi, tongue trills, leaps of register, stammered and spoken word, Fraser performs with impressive versatility and flexibility.’ (Shamistha de Soysa – Sounds Like Sydney)

‘Some pieces explored their texts literally […] while others unwound their origins wildly, like eve (i) by Sean X. Quinn.’ (Michael Kaufmann – Limelight Magazine)

‘incubation is a collaborative effort between Sean Quinn and [Richard] Haynes to explore the sensibilities of the clarinet d’amore. Boundaries of timbral expression were pursued to their limits, with no sound effect left unturned. Indeed a treat, the work is an excellent closer for the album.’ (Michelle Kiec, The Clarinet)