ABOUT - Sheldon Universe

Testimonials…

“I saw Sheldon De Souza playing drums in Los Angeles about a decade ago. I immediately noticed his genuine love for music and deep-rooted desire to be great. I was impressed enough to exchange my personal information with him and we’ve kept in touch. I have since grown to admire deeply his work ethic, natural musicality and innovative creativity. I have vocally coached Sheldon and recently invited him to my studio in Las Vegas and I was yet again blown away by all that is in this young man. He is definitely one to keep your eyes on.”

Romeo Johnson (Head Vocal Coach – NBC’s ‘The Voice’ [4 seasons], Celebrity Coach: P. Diddy’s Starmaker, Making The Band, Teddy Riley, Trey Songz, Ne-Yo, Avril Lavigne, Lady Gaga, Toured with both Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson… )

“Sheldon has a go-getter personality, he makes things happen. I witnessed the organization, the quality of work and everything he put into his show. I have been lucky to have my own success being booked by many others since but at one point I even contemplated using him as my own agent/manager since he showed such a drive to get results. Now that he is promoting his original music as Sheldon Universe he has a long journey as I have witnessed in this industry but I believe he has the determination, music knowledge, and business skills to create a future.”

Romeo Cassellas (Official choreographer for stars like Pitbull, Flo Rida, Danny Fernandes, Tyler Medieros, Rihanna, Nelly Furtado and more.)

“Sheldon is one of the rare musical forces out there who creates a world, on record and on stage, immersing the audience into his music and his environment.

His songwriting and arrangements make him a unique voice in our country and makes him stand out as an artist in his genre. He has made a career on his own.”

Michael Perlmutter (Instinct Entertainment, President of Guild of Music Supervisors)

“Sheldon is incredibly committed, talented and a multi-faceted artist with an unwavering dedication to his craft. He is a wonderfully supportive and generous collaborator with a passion for the creative process and a hunger to create. Sheldon is a self-starter with ambition and the willingness to go the extra mile to make thing happen.”

Vicki St. Denys (Head of Dance Faculty, Ryerson University)

“Working with Sheldon is a joyful experience. He is radically present in the environment that I create for youth to discover their embodied connection to music through dance. What I value most about Sheldon, is his musicianship built upon a dynamic range as a percussionist and as a pianist.”

Michelle Silagy (Contemporary Dance Artist, Toronto Dance Theatre)

“I have known Sheldon since 2005, and for a good number of years we played together in various projects and bands. The projects literally were various as the music covered anything from Caribbean and Cuban, to mainstream jazz, and over to ethno jazz with rich and various Eastern European influences. We had high profile gigs around GTA and Montreal, involving celebrity performers from Trinidad, Jamaica, Bulgaria, and Romania, among others.

Sheldon has been a top class drummer and musician in all those projects due to his high level of talent, professionalism, musical intelligence, and versatility – all being a rather rare set of gifts in one person. Playing with ease and elegance through genres and styles of world music, he did indeed amaze everyone involved, more so because his cultural background was not connected to the music played. Besides, Sheldon has been a fantastic team player, he has great people skills, and his abilities to successfully collaborate with other musicians, in different contexts and settings, are outstanding.”

Corneliu Esanu (Composer, Doctorate of Music – University of Toronto)

“I am confident from what I’ve seen that Sheldon has produced over the last few years will only get stronger with proper support. Sheldon is a talented musician and entertainer who with the right opportunity will definitely shine as he does every time he puts his mind into a new project or endeavour. His communication skills and how he manages a team of entertainers, including singers and dancers will help him to be a well rounded producer as well.”

Anthony Rice (Vegas North Entertainment)

The Sheldon Universe Story

Born to thrive…

Sheldon has traveled to entertain audiences around the world as a singing drummer, dancer and musical director. Grandson of India’s legendary big-band leader, front-man vocalist and trombonist, Maurice Concessio, and son of parents who co-led ‘The Entertainers’ later known as ‘Second Generation’.

Born in Toronto, Canada. At age 2, he was already break dancing and dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” at every family event. From a large family of musicians, the entertainment business was always prevalent in Sheldon’s life. He started training in dance, classical voice and piano in the 3rd grade, and took up jazz drums in 5th grade, which became his main instrument.

Tour life…

When he was 16, Sheldon started working as drummer in the family cover band. This led to him becoming a session drummer for studio recordings and cover bands, which then led to working in a show band for Carnival Cruise Lines, and later a Europe tour with Latin Recording Artist, Alex Bello. Since then he toured with countless artists highlighting; Grammy Award winning Theodosii Spassov amongst many other pop, singer/songwriter, r&b, hip hop, latin, rock, country, jazz and world music artists.

His own music school…

At 21, Sheldon was offered a music school and store to solely manage and operate, The Brampton Conservatory Of Music. During this time, he continued as a session musician which lead to meeting “a new love”, the dance community. After being called to substitute as a live musician for dance classes, he became the permanent accompanist for a High School Dance program which opened up a similar position at Ryerson University a few years later.

Drumming for Toronto Raptors, Tedx Talk, & Working in Prisons…

Through the dance community Sheldon would meet a former member of Stomp and joined ‘Team Rhythm Works’, a touring duo of dancers and drummers using everyday objects, buckets, and body percussion to communicate. The company later renamed ‘Rhythm Works‘ have been featured on Tedx Talks after doing community outreach in over 300 schools and working closely with Unity Charity and BluePrint Pathways working in youth prisons. They have now grown to become ‘The 6ix Stix’ the official bucket drummers for the Toronto Raptors during their NBA Season.

Songwriting: Heartbreak and Music Therapy…

Sheldon found songwriting after his first big break up. His first songs were of lost love and betrayal. He learned to acknowledge the darker psychological traumas and pairing them with a musical outlet to enlighten and embrace positivity.

Productions, Videos, Michael Jackson Flashmob…

Using his education, experience and network from the family business Concessio School of Music, St. Michael’s Choir School, Royal Conservatory, Humber College, Trebas Institute, and Berklee College of Music, in tandem with his experience as a dancer, accompanist, touring singing drummer, stage manager, and musical director he has been able to produce large scale productions highlighting: a dream come true Michael Jackson Tribute, a Fashion-Photoshoot Production, and 300+ person Flashmob of the Thriller Dance and with filmmaker Mike Klassen co-directed and choreographed over 20 music videos at Camp Tamakwa.

Vocal Scholarship to Hollywood…

After a few summers at camp, Sheldon submitted his cover of Sam Smith’s – “Disclosure” to an online competition winning a scholarship to VocalizeU, a global artist development and education company for beginning, emerging, and professional singers located in West Hollywood, California. This has since led to producing and composing music including recently released: Sheldon Universe single “Mine” released on iTunes, Spotify and Apple Music. In the end his creations are meant to be fun, danceable, therapeutic, and musical all in the same.

Children’s Dance, Emerging Artists, Commercials, Soundtrack for Feature Film…

Since then he has released and fully produced, Luv 2 Groove: Movin’ and Groovin’, a children’s guided dance album, and ‘Sharing Dance‘, a national campaign for Canada’s National Ballet. He is producing music for upcoming artists and developing his own label. He is composing/producing music for a feature film and has had such commercial clients such as Walmart and McDonald’s.

Music Nation Foundation, Canadian Urban Music Conference and TDOTFEST

He is the General Manager for 2018 Canadian Urban Music Conference with Music Nation Foundation and has helped to run both CUMC and TDOTFEST in 2017 and previous years.

SHELDON UNIVERSE name…

As his website was built, he would send texts and emails to his friends with the tag line “Sent from sheldonuniverse.com” which eventually would lead to his stage name, Sheldon Universe. The name is also used as an artist surname or family name promoting the unity of all.

Sheldon Universe