Composer Shawn E. Okpebholo is a versatile figure who writes music in many genres and has been active as an ethnomusicologist and conductor. He is also an educator.

Okpebholo was born on March 28, 1981, in Lexington, Kentucky. He was raised in the Salvation Army church and received free music lessons there; his experiences in this church imbued him with a lifelong desire to give musical experiences to those in underserved communities. Okpebholo attended Asbury College (now Asbury University) in Wilmore, Kentucky, studying composition and music theory and going on after graduation for film music composition classes at New York University. Okpebholo earned master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he later taught. He also earned fellowships for ethnomusicological studies in both East and West Africa.

Okpebholo writes music in many genres, including chamber music, orchestral music, songs, and film music. Choral music is prominent in his output, and many of his compositions are based on African-American spirituals in some way. An album of such works, Steal Away, appeared in 2015. Several other Okpebholo compositions have been recorded, including Two Black Churches, for voice and piano and Balm in Gilead, for band. Among the groups that have commissioned works from Okpebholo is the Lexington Concert Band. Okpebholo's piano trio City Beautiful was included on the 2022 Cedille Records release Trios from Contemporary Chicago. His works have been performed in more than 25 states, in Canada, Europe, and Asia (including at the Monte Music Festival in Goa, India) at various contemporary music festivals. Okpebholo teaches composition and theory at the Wheaton College Conservatory in Illinois, and he has given guest lectures and master classes at the University of Benin in Benin City, Nigeria, among other schools. Okpebholo was an invited special guest lecturer and composer at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro New Music Festival. ~ James Manheim, Rovi