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Shawn Kirchner, piano

Shawn Kirchner is a versatile composer/songwriter who also maintains an active performing career as a singer and pianist in Los Angeles.  His choral compositions are performed throughout the United States and abroad, and he is best known for his arrangement of the Kenyan song Wana Baraka.  The Los Angeles Master Chorale has often featured Kirchner’s choral works in their concerts at Disney Hall.  Their season-opening concert this October will include a reprise of his Heavenly Home, a new work that was warmly received in its May 2010 premiere.  Kirchner's bluegrass and country songs can be heard on the CD Meet Me on the Mountain, and his original jazz tunes are featured in club and concert performances of the Shawn Kirchner Quartet.  As a member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, he sings regularly with the Chorale and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Disney Hall and at the Hollywood Bowl in collaborations with the world's leading conductors and composers.   His solo vocal appearances with the Master Chorale include work with Meredith Monk, Ariel Ramirez’ Misa criolla, and Arvo Part's Miserere.  Before moving to the Los Angeles area, he was a vocal coach/pianist in Chicago, and played for Neil Rosenshein’s studio at the Lyric Opera’s Center for American Artists.  Also active as a church musician, Kirchner has been involved in music leadership at the national level for the Church of the Brethren for 20 years, and currently serves on the music staff at the La Verne Church of the Brethren.  Kirchner's TV/Film credits include his work as music director/arranger for the 2004 CBS Christmas Eve special Enter the Light of Life, and he has sung on a number of recent feature film soundtracks.