Zach Sheets (b. 1991) enjoys a diverse life as a composer, chamber musician, and orchestral flutist. Zach currently serves as Principal Flute, Lyndon Paul Lorusso Chair, of the Cape Cod Symphony, and as the flutist for the [Switch~ Ensemble]. An active freelancer, he has further performed with the the New World Symphony, the Boston Ballet, the Albany Symphony, the Portland Symphony, the Slee Sinfonietta, Ensemble Signal, and the Encounters Ensemble. During the summer, he has performed as part of the Klangspuren Ensemble Modern Academy, Atlantic Music Festival Contemporary Ensemble, Colorado College Music Festival Orchestra, Ritsos Project Festival, and June in Buffalo Festival. He has also performed for two summers with the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra, notably as principal flute for the North American premiere of Helmut Lachenmann's Das mädchen mit den schwefelhölzern. Zach was invited to perform in both the Astral Artists 2015 National Auditions and the Concert Artists Guild 2015 Victor Elmaleh Competition, and was the 1st prize winner of the inaugural Tallon Perkes Scholarship.

As a composer, Zach's works have been performed by such groups as the Ensemble InterContemporain, the Talea Ensemble, the Callithumpian Consort, the Juventas New Music Ensemble, the Brattle Street Chamber Players, cellist Séverine Ballon, the Vermont Youth Orchestra, the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble, and many others. He was featured in a performance of his own solo flute work, that colors the stone, at the 2015 Spoleto Festival USA, and recently completed a new work as part of the 2015 ManiFeste Academy at IRCAM in Paris. Upcoming projects include an artist residency at the Marble House Project, a commission for the Vermont Symphony Orchestra’s “Made-in-Vermont” concert tour, a new work for the Ogni Suono saxophone duo, and a new work for the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne as part of the renowned 13° FORUM international des jeunes compositeurs in Montréal in November 2016.

In July of 2016 Zach will travel to Valencia, Spain, with the [Switch~ Ensemble], to perform as ensemble-in-residence at the Valencia International Performance Academy. He held a similar position as flutist with the Atlantic Music Festival Contemporary Ensemble in the summer of 2014, and enjoys working regularly with composers to bring new works into the world. Thanks to generous funding from a New Music USA Project Grant and the Tallon Perkes Scholarship Fund, he joined pianist Wei-Han Wu on a commissioning project and six-city recital tour in March-April 2016, featuring commissioned world-premiere works by Katherine Balch, Ashkan Behzadi, Gabriel Bolaños, and David Clay Mettens.

Zach holds a B.A. in Music and French Literature from Harvard University and an M.M. and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music.

Mentors include Robert Morris, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Chaya Czernowin, John Luther Adams, Roger Reynolds, Amnon Wolman, Nicholas Vines, and Erik Nielsen (composition); Bonita Boyd, Ransom Wilson, Cynthia Meyers, Judy Grant, and Heidi Baxter (flute); Oliver Schneller, Allan Schindler and Hans Tutschku (electronics); Robert Levin, Federico Cortese, Kenneth Grant, and Jean Barr (chamber music).