25/26 SEASON
Celebrating Excellence
At Rice University, we take immense pride in the Shepherd School of Music — an institution that, in just 50 years, has risen to international prominence as one of the most distinguished music programs in the world. With a conservatory experience that attracts students from around the globe, and as a jewel of the Houston performing arts community, the Shepherd School continues to define excellence in music and education.
We are proud to offer over 400 live performances each year, and the music faculty’s creative practice brings extraordinary depth and quality to each encounter. Whether we’re featuring gifted student musicians, esteemed faculty or visiting artists who represent the finest musicians from the field, each season is a testament to the dedication, passion and talent that flourish within the walls of Alice Pratt Brown Hall and Brockman Hall for Opera.
The Shepherd School is a vital part of Rice’s vibrant and growing arts scene, which includes the adjacent Moody Center for the Arts and the new Sarofim Hall visual arts building — one that reflects our university’s broader commitment to fostering creativity and cultural dialogue. Our model combines the rigor of a top-tier conservatory with the expansive possibilities of a world-class research university, providing students with the tools and opportunities to thrive artistically and intellectually.
I invite you to experience the transformative power of music at Rice. Whether you are a regular attendee or just discovering us, you will find that each time you join us, you’ll find a celebration of artistry, excellence and community.
Warmly,
Reginald DesRoches President, Rice University
Reginald DesRoches
A Welcome from the Dean
Celebrating This Moment
We are delighted to welcome you to a vibrant new season at the Shepherd School of Music with continued 50th anniversary celebrations! Building on the remarkable successes of last year — stunning performances, thrilling new commissions from our composition faculty and a fun-filled Community Day — this 2025/26 season honors everything our community has built together over 50 years and looks forward to all that lies ahead.
With eight accomplished new faculty members joining us this fall and a host of recent alumni achievements to applaud, we are inspired by the extraordinary talent and creativity flourishing within our musical family. This season, you can look forward to exciting firsts — innovative collaborations between ensembles and world premieres from five exceptional composition faculty. These performances will nurture artistic growth for our students while inspiring and delighting audiences like you.
The Shepherd School is truly unique — a conservatory within a distinguished research university where artistic mastery meets academic rigor and curiosity. Aligned with Rice University’s bold 10-year strategic vision to build a thriving, globally impactful educational community, we remain committed to musical excellence delivered with a deeply personal touch.
Most importantly, YOU, our audiences, are essential to this moment. Your enthusiasm, presence, and support ensure that students, faculty, alumni, parents, donors, Houston music lovers and listeners worldwide remain connected — to the music and to one another. Together, we bring this special musical community to life.
Welcome, and enjoy the season!
Matthew Loden
Lynette S. Autrey Dean of Music
Matthew Loden
Season Highlights
25/26 SEASON
50th Commissions + Gala
Experience five newly commissioned works by Shepherd composition faculty in honor of the school’s 50th anniversary.
Celebrate 50 years of musical excellence at our gala celebration on Saturday, November 8, featuring esteemed guest artists and an evening of live music performances from our music faculty and extraordinary students.
Opera
They say a composer’s final work is often their greatest. Experience the brilliance of Mozart and Verdi’s last operas, The Magic Flute and Falstaff – both performed for the first time ever at the Shepherd School.
Shepherd School Chamber Players join our annual Opera Scenes program, which explores how contemporary works can breathe fresh life into this dramatic art form.
Orchestras
Shepherd talent shines: 2025 Concerto Competition winners and Class of ’25 composers take center stage for solo performances and world premieres with the Shepherd School Orchestras.
Enjoy timeless symphonies like Beethoven’s 7th, Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique,” and Brahms’s 4th; colorful showpieces including Strauss’s Don Juan, Gershwin’s An American in Paris, and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé; and newly-penned works by Mason Bates, John Adams, and Jasmine Barnes.
Shepherd School of Music 50th Anniversary Gala
Sat, Nov 8, 2025
6:00pm Cocktails | 7:00pm Performance
8:15pm Gala Dinner
Anne Duncan, Honoree
Anne and Albert Chao, Co-chairs
Isabel and Danny David, Co-chairs
Shawn Stephens and Jim Jordan, Underwriter Chairs
As we celebrate the Shepherd School’s 50th Anniversary, we’re setting the stage for a musical evening unlike any other
This culminating anniversary event begins with a cocktail reception in the Grand Foyer of Stude Concert Hall for all concert attendees, followed by an unforgettable concert in Stude featuring special guests and the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra under the direction of faculty conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya.
An elegant seated dinner on the Morrison Theater stage in the stunning Brockman Hall for Opera will take place following the concert for Gala event supporters.
This golden milestone is more than a celebration; it’s a joyful tribute to the extraordinary students, faculty, and alumni who give the Shepherd School its soul — and to devoted champions like Anne Duncan, whose passion and generosity have helped shape our school’s bright future.
To purchase dinner tables or tickets, please contact our Donor Relations Officer at 713-348-4157.
Secure your cocktail reception and concert-only tickets starting Friday, September 19.
This special gala performance includes the final movement from Pierre Jalbert’s 50th anniversary commission, Another Starry Night, featuring two-time Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano alumna Sasha Cooke (’04). The piece gathers inspiration from the many meanings and characteristics of “night,” with this particular movement based on the text of Stephen Foster, known as the father of American music and arguably one of its most popular melodists.
Sasha Cooke
Pierre Jalbert
Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra
Miguel Harth-Bedoya
Distinguished Resident Director of Orchestras & Professor of Conducting
When over 100 musicians unite on stage, the result is breathtaking.
All performances at Stude Concert Hall
TICKETS REQUIRED
Reserved seating starts at $5
A Symphonic Celebration
Sat, Sep 20, 2025 at 7:30pm
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
Shostakovich: Festive Overture
Mason Bates: Mothership
Strauss: Don Juan
Ravel: Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé
Festive Overture provides an appropriately celebratory opening to the season. Mason Bates’s Mothership fuses classical instrumentation with actionpacked improvisatory solos, while Strauss’s wild and suggestive Don Juan demands dazzling virtuosity from every section.
Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2 culminates in a shimmering, ecstatic crescendo, one of the most breathtaking finales in the orchestral repertoire.
Momentum & Majesty
Sat, Oct 25, 2025 at 7:30pm
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
John Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Respighi: Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome) Brahms: Symphony No. 4
John Adams’s evocatively titled Short Ride in a Fast Machine is a quick and brilliant fanfare with a strong rhythmic pulse. Respighi’s Fontane di Roma vividly portrays four iconic Roman fountains from dawn to dusk. Brahms’s Symphony No. 4 closes the program with stormy passion and profound autumnal beauty.
Prokofiev’s Cinderella
Fri, Dec 5, 2025 at 7:30pm
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
Bruckner: Adagio from Symphony No. 7
Prokofiev: Selections from Cinderella
Among the most famous movements of any of Bruckner’s symphonies, the Adagio from Symphony No. 7 is melodically rich and expansive in scope, resolving into serene acceptance. Miguel Harth-Bedoya considers the music from Cinderella to be some of Prokofiev’s most beautiful and dynamic; he has selected movements from the original ballet score to recreate the beloved fairy tale.
Our new Director of Orchestras is an Emmy Award-winning and GRAMMY®nominated conductor who is the Music Director Laureate of the Fort Worth Symphony and former Chief Conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra. Harth-Bedoya has led major orchestras around the world and made his conducting debut with The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra last fall.
Miguel Harth-Bedoya
Britten & Sibelius
Sat, Mar 7, 2026 at 7:30pm
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
Britten: The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Purcell)
Sibelius: Symphony No. 2
Despite its name, people of all ages always find something delightful in Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, an ideal showcase for all sections of the orchestra. Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 follows with sweeping melodies and grandeur, a stirring musical journey that became a symbol of hope and resilience for the Finnish people.
Sorrow & Joy
Sat, Feb 7, 2026 at 7:30pm
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
Nicky Sohn (’25): The Blue Hour (Cooper Prize Winner)
Gershwin: An American in Paris Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique”
Alumna Nicky Sohn’s The Blue Hour reflects on our planet’s precarious state and encourages contemplation and action. Gershwin’s An American in Paris bursts with jazzy charm and vibrant city rhythms—music so infectious it practically dances off the stage. On the other end of the musical spectrum, Tchaikovsky’s final symphony explores a wide-ranging emotional landscape and provides personal reflections on the composer’s storied life.
Nicky Sohn
Miguel Harth-Bedoya
Shining a Spotlight on Shepherd Talent
These special concerts showcase Shepherd School Concerto Competition-winning instrumentalists, graduate orchestral conducting students, and new compositions by recent composition alumni, all performed by the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra.
Shepherd Spotlight: Dvořák’s Cello Concerto
Sat, Apr 4, 2026 at 7:30pm
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
Ana Spasovska and Kyle Haake, assistant conductors
Sebastian Berofsky* (’25), cello
Xingyi Chen (’25): Shattered Sky/Remaining Land (World Premiere)
Dvořák: Cello Concerto
The orchestration of Xingyi Chen’s Shattered Sky/Remaining Land mimics cycles of breath, with inspiration taken from James Turrell’s Twilight Epiphany Skyspace. Dvořák’s final solo concerto, one of the most lyrical and heartachingly beautiful works in the cello repertoire, features Shepherd School Concerto Competition winner Sebastian Berofsky.
*Shepherd School Concerto Competition winner, 2025
Shepherd Spotlight: The Mighty Rach 3
Fri, Mar 27, 2026 at 7:30pm
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
Ana Spasovska and Kyle Haake, assistant conductors
Szuyu Su*, piano
Jiaying Li (’25): Olvidar (World Premiere)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
Jiaying Li’s Olvidar explores memory and flashback, and the bittersweetness of reliving past experiences. And perhaps no work looms larger in the piano repertoire than Rachmaninoff’s titanic third piano concerto; hear it performed with awe-inspiring virtuosity by Shepherd School Concerto Competition winner Szuyu Su.
Free Live Streams
Watch every Symphony Orchestra concert as it happens live on music.rice.edu—no registration required!
Sebastian Berofsky
Szuyu Su
Xingyi Chen
Jiaying Li
Virtuosic Soundscapes
Sat, Apr 25, 2026 at 7:30pm
Kevin John Edusei, guest conductor
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra
Debussy: La mer
Composed during his final illness before death, Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra is considered his last masterwork, filled with brilliant, virtuosic writing that challenges each section of the orchestra. Debussy’s La mer is an impressionist masterpiece that captures the sea’s shifting moods–from calm to turbulent–with vivid, atmospheric sound.
Take Your Seat!
For our 50th Anniversary celebrations, we have recently refreshed our most popular music-making spaces – Stude and Duncan Concert Halls. Patrons will find much-needed new seating and oak floors in both halls, and listeners will continue to marvel at the warm clarity of these sophisticated acoustic spaces. The concert experience will be better than ever before for students and audience members alike.
You can play an important role in this major transformation by making a tax-deductible donation to help defray the cost of this critical update. Your support is vital to get us to our seat campaign goal of $500,000.
Claim your place in music history by naming a seat! Whether it’s your name, a loved one’s, or a tribute to someone who inspired your love of the arts, we want you to be a permanent part of our school’s story. This is your chance to inscribe a seat in Stude, Duncan and Morrison, or perhaps name a seat (or a section!) in all three venues. This is a visible, lasting way to show your love for music – and support the next generation of Shepherd School artists.
Giving levels range from $1,000 to $5,000, depending on seat location. Gifts of $2,500 or more may be spread over three years.
Make Your Gift Today!
Contact our Assistant Director of Development, Annual Giving at 713-348-4971.
Kevin John Edusei
Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra
Miguel Harth-Bedoya
Distinguished Resident Director of Orchestras & Professor of Conducting
With about fifty musicians, a chambersized orchestra combines the richness of a symphonic sound with the intimacy and clarity of a smaller ensemble.
All performances at Stude Concert Hall
TICKETS REQUIRED
Reserved seating starting at FREE
Anthony Brandt’s 50th Anniversary Commission
“I’m honored to celebrate the Shepherd School’s 50th anniversary with this work, performed by my esteemed colleague Norman Fischer, who, alongside his wife and fellow faculty member Jeanne, exemplifies everything that makes the Shepherd School special. The audience can expect many changes in mood and character from the singlemovement concerto, with the cellist as protagonist.” (Anthony Brandt)
Beethoven, Rossini & Brandt
Sat, Sep 27, 2025 at 7:30pm
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor Norman Fischer, cello
Rossini: Overture to La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie) Anthony Brandt: Chamber Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (Shepherd School of Music 50th Anniversary Commission) ( World Premiere)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
Rossini’s Overture to La gazza ladra blends humor and pathos, employing the composer’s trademark slow orchestral crescendo building to an energetic conclusion. The rhythmic vitality of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony has made it one of the composer’s most enduringly popular symphonies, known as “the apotheosis of the dance.” Professor of Cello Norman Fischer is the soloist in Anthony Brandt’s new chamber concerto, commissioned for the Shepherd School’s 50th anniversary.
Norman Fischer
Springtime Rhapsody
Sun, Mar 8, 2026 at 2:00pm
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
Milton Rubén Laufer (’03), piano
Piazzolla: Tangazo
Arthur Gottschalk: Tombeaux: pour un création d’une rhapsodie (Shepherd School of Music 50th Anniversary Commission) ( World Premiere)
Schumann: Symphony No. 1, “Spring”
Tangazo is a dreamy, sensuous example of Piazzolla’s signature tango nuevo style. Robert Schumann’s First Symphony is buoyant and optimistic, containing some of the most joyous music the composer ever wrote. Arthur Gottschalk’s 50th anniversary commission is a rhapsody in the vein of Gershwin and Milhaud, written for alumnus Milton Rubén Laufer.
Arthur Gottschalk’s 50th Anniversary Commission
Tombeaux is a one-movement chamber concerto composed for alumnus
Milton Rubén Laufer, now head of the School of Music at Carnegie Mellon University. “In celebration of the recent centennials of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Milhaud’s La Création du Monde , I sought to combine aspects of both works into a showcase for Laufer’s virtuosity and musicality,” says Arthur Gottschalk.
Free Live Streams
Watch every Chamber Orchestra concert as it happens live on music. rice.edu—no registration required!
Milton Rubén Laufer
Shepherd School Chamber Players
and Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra
FREE • TICKETS REQUIRED
General admission seating
Shepherd School Chamber Players & Orchestra:
Shepherd School Chamber Players: Color & Light
Thu, Dec 4, 2025 at 7:30pm
Stude Concert Hall
Ravel: Introduction et Allegro
Samuel Carl Adams: Lighthouse
Sarah Gibson: I prefer living in color
Price: Octet for Brasses and Piano
Martinů: Nonet No. 2
Worlds Apart, Sounds United
Fri, Feb 6, 2026 at 7:30pm Morrison Theater at Brockman Hall for Opera
Still: Ennanga
Hummel: Grand Concerto in F Major (David Chan, conductor; Jackson Bernal*, bassoon)
Jasmine Barnes: The Boroughs Mozart: Symphony No. 40
NEW! For the first time ever, experience the joint forces of the Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra and Chamber Players on the Morrison Theater stage!
Can’t make these performances in person? Watch online for free at music.rice.edu
David Chan
Welcoming David Chan, Professor of Violin
There’s no one better to coach Shepherd students as they prepare for this performance! Prior to joining the Shepherd School faculty this fall, David was concertmaster of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for an unprecedented 25 seasons.
Jackson Bernal
*2025 Shepherd School Concerto Competition Winner
Instrumental Chamber Music
Shepherd School instrumentalists develop their artistry through chamber music, performing in small ensembles from duets to octets without a conductor. Every note carries weight in this intimate setting, creating a powerful emotional impact from the blend of individual expression and unified precision.
FREE • No Tickets Needed
Can’t make these performances in person?
Watch online for free at music.rice.edu
Chamber Music Festival
Duncan Recital Hall
Nov 14-16, 2025 Apr 10-12, 2026
Shepherd School students perform three days of captivating chamber music. Performance details and times will be announced at a later date.
Chamber Music for Winds
Duncan Recital Hall at 7:30pm
Wed, Oct 1, 2025
Wed, Oct 22, 2025
Wed, Nov 19, 2025
Wed, Feb 11, 2026
Wed, Mar 11, 2026
Tue, Apr 14, 2026
Chamber Music for Brass
Duncan Recital Hall at 7:30pm
Tue, Oct 7, 2025
Thu, Nov 13, 2025
Sun, Feb 22, 2026
Thu, Apr 16, 2026
Chamber Music for Percussion
All performances at 7:30pm
Sun, Sep 28, 2025
Marimba Recital
Duncan Recital Hall
Tue, Nov 11, 2025
Chamber Music for Percussion
Stude Concert Hall
Wed, Feb 4, 2026
Mixed Chamber Music for Percussion - Duncan Recital Hall
Tue, Apr 14, 2026
Chamber Music for Percussion
Stude Concert Hall
2026 Shepherd School Concerto Competition
FREE • No Tickets Needed
All performances at Stude Concert Hall
The Shepherd School’s standout musicians take center stage as they compete for the chance to perform a concerto with a Shepherd School ensemble the following school year.
Winds, Brass, Percussion & Harp Finals
Sat, Jan 31, 2026 at 7:00pm
Strings Finals
Mon, Feb 9, 2026 at 7:00pm
Piano Finals
Wed, Feb 11, 2026 at 7:00pm
Shepherd School Opera
An exclusive cohort of fewer than 40 vocalists participates in one of the country’s premier opera training programs.
All performances in Morrison Theater, Brockman Hall for Opera
Joshua Winograde
Director of Opera Studies & Professor of Opera
TICKETS REQUIRED
Fri, Oct 31, 2025 at 7:30pm Sun, Nov 2, 2025 at 2:00pm
Louis Lohraseb, conductor
R.B. Schlather, director
Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra
A daring Prince, a beautiful Princess, and an evil Queen–a fairy tale love story with unimaginable trials along the way. Mozart’s final opera, The Magic Flute, contains some of opera’s most memorable melodies and roles, including The Queen of the Night and her famous high notes! Sorcery, a dragon, and long-held secrets challenge our hero and heroine on their quest for wisdom and enlightenment.
Sung in German with English surtitles. Pre-show Talks with conductor Louis Lohraseb begin one hour before each performance.
TICKETS REQUIRED
Fri, Apr 17, 2026 at 7:30pm | Sun, Apr 19, 2026 at 2:00pm Tue, Apr 21, 2026 at 7:30pm (ADDED PERFORMANCE!)
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor Matt Hune, director Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra
“Everything in the world is a jest,” declares the ensemble cast of Verdi’s final operatic masterpiece, loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV. The lecherous and egotistical drunk Sir John Falstaff foolishly attempts to solve his money troubles by seducing two noble women at the same time. Little does he know, they are close friends! Deception, hilarity, and revenge ensue…
Sung in Italian with English surtitles. Pre-show Talks with conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya begin one hour before each performance.
Mozart’s The Magic Flute
Verdi’s Falstaff
Inside Opera: Pre-show Talks
Get an inside look at The Magic Flute and Falstaff in Tudor Patrons’ Lounge on the parterre level, one hour before curtain time. Open to all opera ticketholders on a firstcome, first-served basis.
Karim Al-Zand’s 50th Anniversary Commission
A Joint Interest is a comic scene for three singers and chamber ensemble after an O. Henry short story titled Makes the Whole World Kin . It’s a tale of late-night insomnia, cat burglary and the aches and pains that bind us all.
Modern American Opera Scenes
FREE • TICKETS REQUIRED
Sun, Feb 1, 2026 at 2:00pm
For the first time ever, Shepherd School Chamber Players will join our annual Opera Scenes program, which will explore how contemporary works can breathe fresh life into this dramatic art form. A centerpiece of the scenes will be the World Premiere of faculty member Karim Al-Zand’s A Joint Interest (Shepherd School of Music 50th Anniversary Commission), conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Directed by Aleko Endowed Artist Paul Curran, Shepherd opera students will also perform scenes from contemporary American operas, accompanied by piano.
Spirit of the Season
TICKETS REQUIRED
Sat, Dec 6, 2025
Morrison Theater at Brockman Hall for Opera 6:30pm pre-concert reception | 7:30pm concert
Celebrate the holidays with a joyful, one-hour performance featuring the Shepherd School’s talented voice and instrumental students! Enjoy festive favorites and selections from opera and musical theater curated by leading Broadway music director and Shepherd School alumnus Andy Einhorn.
Before the concert, all ticketholders are welcome to enjoy cookies and hot chocolate in the Grand Foyer of Brockman Hall for Opera.
Family Concert: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
FREE • TICKETS REQUIRED
Family Concert: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Sat, Feb 28, 2026 at 11:00am
Stude Concert Hall
Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
Ana Spasovska and Kyle Haake, assistant conductors
Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra is a timeless introduction to the magic of orchestral music. Musicians from each section of the orchestra—woodwinds, brass, strings, harp, and percussion—get a chance to shine in a lively theme and variations. Before the hour-long family-friendly performance, join us in the Grand Foyer for instrument demonstrations and a chance to meet the Shepherd School musicians!
The fun continues after the concert!
Audience members are invited to take a short 5-minute walk to the Moody Center for the Arts for more family-friendly fun after the concert.
Faculty Recitals
Renowned faculty members who have played on stages across the globe present intimate recitals. Shepherd students join forces with faculty for Sharing the Spotlight performances.
FREE • No Tickets Needed (unless noted otherwise)
Sharing the Spotlight: Faculty Wind Quintet & Friends
Fri, Sep 12, 2025 at 7:30pm, Duncan Recital Hall
Marianne Gedigian, flute
Erin Hannigan, oboe
Richie Hawley, clarinet Benjamin Kamins, bassoon Elizabeth Freimuth, horn
Kurt Stallmann & Joseph Campana present
The Fruit and the Work - Shepherd School of Music
50th Anniversary Commission (World Premiere)
FREE • TICKETS REQUIRED
Sun, Oct 5, 2025 at 2:00pm, Wortham Theatre
Come help us raise the swarm at The Fruit and the Work , the culminating performance of a long-term collaboration between poet and Rice University Professor of English and Environmental Studies Joseph Campana, and composer and Director of Rice Electroacoustic Music (REM) Labs Kurt Stallmann. This captivating performance explores the fascinating and evolving relationship between humans and honeybees and features live poetry, music, lighting, immersive and spatialized sound, and AI-generated sounds and images.
Marianne Gedigian & Benjamin Kamins
Kurt Stallmann
Joseph Campana
Elizabeth Freimuth
Jon Kimura Parker & Valentin Radutiu
Wed, Oct 8, 2025 at 7:30pm, Duncan Recital Hall
Jon Kimura Parker, piano
Valentin Radutiu, cello
Featuring Brahms’s Sonata in F, Schnittke’s Epilogue from Peer Gynt, and the Franck Sonata
Sharing the Spotlight: David Chan & Cho-Liang Lin
Wed, Oct 15, 2025 at 7:30pm, Duncan Recital Hall
David Chan, Paul Kantor, Cho-Liang Lin, & Kathleen Winkler, violins
Timothy Pitts, double bass
Featuring works by Telemann, Bacewicz, and Moszkowski
Marianne Gedigian, Flute
Sat, Oct 18, 2025 at 5:00pm, Duncan Recital Hall
Beilin Han, piano
Featuring works by Telemann, Stravinsky, Gubaidulina, and Kyrese Washington
Sharing the Spotlight: Susan Dunn-Rachleff & Friends
Sun, Oct 19, 2025 at 7:30pm, Duncan Recital Hall
Susan Dunn-Rachleff, mezzo-soprano
Norman Fischer, cello
Michael Webster, clarinet
Jeanne Kierman Fischer, piano
Lyndsi Maus, piano
Charlie Tauber, piano
Featuring works by Bach, Brahms, Bernstein, Blitzstein, Bolcom, Bonis, Beath, and more
View the Full Concert Calendar Online
Performances are added throughout the year. For a complete calendar and the most up-to-date information, visit music.rice.edu/events.
Fischer Duo
Mon, Oct 27, 2025 at 7:30pm, Duncan Recital Hall
Norman Fischer, cello
Jeanne Kierman Fischer, piano
Rebecca Fischer, violin
Featuring works for cello and piano by Beethoven and Bolcom, plus Dvořák’s “Dumky” Piano Trio
Jon Kimura Parker, Piano
Sat, Nov 1, 2025 at 7:30pm, Duncan Recital Hall
Featuring Beethoven’s “Appassionata” Sonata and Oscar Peterson’s Blues Etude
Sharing the Spotlight: Brinton Averil Smith & Friends
Mon, Nov 3, 2025 at 7:30pm, Duncan Recital Hall
Brinton Averil Smith, cello
James Dunham, viola
Evelyn Chen, piano
Featuring Borodin’s String Quintet in F Minor
Valentin Radutiu
Norman & Jeanne Kierman Fischer
Brinton Averil Smith
Marianne Gedigian
Cho-Liang Lin, Jon Kimura Parker & Clive Greensmith
Mon, Nov 17, 2025 at 7:30pm, Duncan Recital Hall
Cho-Liang Lin, violin
Clive Greensmith, cello
Jon Kimura Parker, piano
Featuring Brahms’s Trio in C Major and Tchaikovsky’s Trio in A Minor
Sharing the Spotlight:
Jon Kimura Parker & Friends
Wed, Jan 21, 2026 at 7:30pm, Duncan Recital Hall
Jon Kimura Parker, piano
Sharing the Spotlight: Norman Fischer & Friends
Fri, Jan 30, 2026 at 7:30pm, Duncan Recital Hall
Norman Fischer, cello
Erin Hannigan, Benjamin Kamins & Lyndsi Maus
Tue, Feb 3, 2026 at 7:30pm, Duncan Recital Hall
Erin Hannigan, oboe
Benjamin Kamins, bassoon
Lyndsi Maus, piano
Featuring trios by Poulenc and Françaix
Richie Hawley
Richie Hawley & Friends
Sun, Mar 1, 2026 at 5:00pm, Duncan Recital Hall
Richie Hawley, clarinet
Brinton Averil Smith, Cello
Fri, Mar 6, 2026 at 7:30pm, Duncan Recital Hall
Evelyn Chen, piano
Cho-Liang Lin & Friends
Tue, Mar 10, 2026 at 7:30pm, Duncan Recital Hall
Cho-Liang Lin, violin
Ivo-Jan van der Werff, viola
Aloysia Friedmann, viola
Valentin Radutiu, cello
Erin Hannigan, oboe
Marianne Gedigian, flute
Jon Kimura Parker, piano
Featuring Mozart’s Oboe Quartet in F Major, Beethoven’s Serenade for Flute and Strings, and Dvořák’s Piano Quartet in E-flat Major
Sohyoung Park, Piano
Sun, Apr 26, 2026 at 5:00pm, Duncan Recital Hall
An all-Beethoven program featuring Sonata Nos. 8, 18, 24, and 32.
Erin Hannigan
Cho-Liang Lin
Ivo-Jan van der Werff
Jon Kimura Parker
Shepherd School of Music Faculty
The Shepherd School wouldn’t be what it is today without its illustrious faculty. Students come to Shepherd for the opportunity to study with these visionary educators, world-renowned performers, and dedicated mentors.
Dean of the Shepherd School of the Music
Matthew Loden
Conducting
Miguel Harth-Bedoya^
Violin
David Chan^
Paul Kantor
Cho-Liang Lin
Kathleen Winkler
Viola
James Dunham
Ivo-Jan van der Werff
Cello
Norman Fischer
Valentin Radutiu^
Brinton Averil Smith
Double Bass
Paul Ellison
Timothy Pitts
Flute
Marianne Gedigian
Oboe
Erin Hannigan^
Clarinet
Richie Hawley
Bassoon
Benjamin Kamins
Trumpet
Barbara Butler
Horn
Elizabeth Freimuth^*
Trombone
Nick Platoff^
Tuba
David Kirk
Percussion
Matthew Strauss
Harp
Allegra Lilly^
Piano
Brian Connelly
Jeanne Kierman Fischer
Sohyoung Park*
Jon Kimura Parker
Organ
Ken Cowan
Learn more about our faculty at music.rice.edu
Voice
Ana María Martínez
Robin Rice
Nova Thomas
Opera Studies
Joshua Winograde
Patrick Summers
Vocal Coaching
Thomas Jaber
Lyndsi Maus
Alex Munger
Nino Sanikidze
Bethany Self
Rice Chorale
Thomas Jaber
Composition & Theory
Karim Al-Zand
Damian Blättler
Anthony Brandt
Shih-Hui Chen
Arthur Gottschalk
Pierre Jalbert
Richard Lavenda*
Kurt Stallmann
Robert Yekovich
Musicology
Gregory Barnett
Erik Broess
David Ferris
Alexandra Kieffer
Peter Loewen
Danielle Ward-Griffin
Orchestral & Chamber Repertoire
Allen Barnhill
Joan DerHovsepian
Christopher French
Thomas LeGrand
Janet Rarick
Lecturers
Mario Aschauer
Karl Blench*
Susan Dunn-Rachleff
Rick Erickson
Jerry Hou*
Cristian Măcelaru^*
James Palmer^*
Robert Simpson
Glenn Taylor
Chapman Welch
^New faculty member, fall 2025
*Shepherd alumnus
Rice University Ensembles
FREE • TICKETS REQUIRED
Stude Concert Hall at 4:00pm
Sun, Nov 23, 2025 Sat, Apr 18, 2026
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Music Director
Ana Spasovska and Kyle Haake, Associate Conductors
Campanile Orchestra is a symphony orchestra made up of Rice University non-music majors and members of the greater Rice community who wish to continue their orchestral activities in a fun and exciting musical environment. In conjunction with Music Director Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Shepherd Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting students lead the orchestra as Associate Conductors.
Rice Chorale
View the Rice Chorale performance schedule online at music.rice.edu/events.
Thomas Jaber, Music Director
Rice Chorale is one of the oldest ensembles on campus, comprising music majors and other talented singers from Rice University and the greater Houston community.
Campanile Orchestra
Kyle Haake
Ana Spasovska
Experience the Arts at Rice
The Moody Center for the Arts
Through transformative encounters with the arts, The Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University encourages creative thinking, enriches curricular innovation, and promotes cross-campus and community collaboration. Explore their seasonal exhibitions and free programs at moody.rice.edu.
Did You Know?
The Rice Public Art Collection, facilitated by the Moody Center for the Arts, includes more than 70 public artworks installed across Rice’s campus, including several that concert patrons can view in and around the Shepherd School of Music:
James Turrell, Twilight Epiphany Skyspace, 2012.
Photo by Florian Holzherr
Odili Donald Odita, Meeting Place / Painting with Changing Parts, 2022. Photo by Sean Fleming
Beverly Pepper, Occam’s Wedge, 2008-2021.
Photo by Nash Baker
Eva LeWitt, Untitled (Shepherd School of Music), 2024.
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
Get to Know the
Humble Beginnings
Sallie Shepherd Perkins’ vision and foundational gift in 1950 laid the groundwork to create a department of music at Rice University in 1953. The Shepherd School of Music was founded in 1974, conceived as a conservatory inside a research university, pairing artistic mastery with academic rigor and curiosity.
Samuel Jones—founding Dean of the Shepherd School and a renowned composer and conductor—wrote our DNA into one line: Keep the roster small and the standards high. Half a century later, that charge still conducts every audition, class, and curtain call.
As we begin our next half-century, we remain devoted to nurturing gifted musicians who will take their art and Rice’s benchmark for excellence into new stages and communities.
Dive into Shepherd’s history, including key moments and memories, on our website at music.rice.edu .
Our Students Today
enrolled undergrads grads
(we’re the second smallest school at Rice!)
Did You Know?
As part of their degree requirements, Shepherd students present solo recitals . Visit music.rice.edu/events for a complete calendar of events, including student and studio class recitals. Tickets are not required, so come as you are to experience the extraordinary artistry of our students!
Sallie Shepherd Perkins
Degrees of Study
• Shepherd offers Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctor of Musical Arts, and Artist Diploma degrees.
• Students specialize in composition, orchestral conducting, music history, orchestral instruments, organ, piano, and voice/opera studies.
Our Faculty
75 acclaimed artist-teachers mentor 275 Shepherd students. This 1:4 ratio guarantees personalized coaching and accelerates artistic growth.
Our Spaces
Our venues are designed to feel as welcoming as they are inspiring: Alice Pratt Brown Hall (opened in 1991) and Brockman Hall for Opera (opened in 2022) have become vibrant spaces where students, faculty, and the Houston community gather to learn, rehearse and celebrate music.
Our large rehearsal and performance halls include:
• Morrison Theater, Dean’s Rehearsal Hall and Tudor Patrons’ Lounge in Brockman Hall for Opera
• Stude Concert Hall, Duncan Recital Hall, Edythe Bates Old Recital Hall and Grand Organ, Wortham Theatre, and Hirsch
Orchestra Rehearsal Hall in Alice Pratt Brown Hall
Join the Shepherd Society!
Inspire the next generation of musical excellence.
In just 50 years, the Shepherd School has attracted star faculty and gifted students who have pushed us into the top echelon of music schools. From the beginning, the Shepherd Society has changed students’ lives through vital scholarship support. Looking forward, the Shepherd Society will expand
Supporting
by including all annual donations; both student scholarship support and gifts to our new Annual Fund will bring you Society membership privileges. Every note performed, every artist nurtured, every audience moved—your donor generosity makes it all possible.
Students - Your gift fuels what tuition and endowment support alone cannot cover.
The Annual Fund provides current-use, unrestricted funds to support students, programs, and our remarkable facilities. Your gift has an immediate and lasting impact, enhancing student life, faculty excellence, and performance opportunities.
Annual scholarship support enables talented students to pursue their dreams and share their
gifts with the world. For many young musicians, tuition costs and future debt are deciding factors in considering whether to continue honing their craft at Rice. Shepherd Society-funded scholarships play a critical role in attracting today’s most gifted young musicians to study at Rice.
$100 | Friend
• Recognition in online donor listing
• Subscription to donor newsletter
$250 | Ambassador
• Early access to ticketed performances and events
• All Friend-level benefits
$500 | Advocate
• Premier assigned seating at ticketed performances
• Invitation to Spring Donor Appreciation Reception
• All Ambassador-level benefits
$1,000 | Patron
• Access to the Tudor Patrons’ Lounge (Brockman Hall for Opera)
• Access to the Symphony Patrons’ Lounge (Alice Pratt Brown Hall)
• Concierge phone line for VIP ticket service
• Invitation for two (2) to one Shepherd on Stage donor event
• All Advocate-level benefits
$2,500 | Guardian
• Invitation to Spirit of the Season pre-concert reception with Dean Loden
• Invitation for two (2) to one Behind the Scenes event
• All Patron-level benefits
$5,000 | Champion
• Invitations for two (2) to spring and fall Shepherd on Stage events
• Invitations for two (2) to spring and fall Behind the Scenes events
• All Guardian-level benefits
$10,000 | Benefactor
• Sponsor a guest artist appearance
• Backstage meet-and-greet with sponsored artist
• Recognition in concert program
• All Champion-level benefits
$15,000 | Guarantor
• Sponsor a select orchestra or opera performance
• Includes 10 VIP seats and prominent recognition
• All Benefactor-level benefits
$25,000+ | Visionary
• Custom recognition opportunities curated for munificent annual donors
• Sponsorships available for: Symphony, Opera, Chamber, Community Concerts, Master Classes and Faculty Recitals
• All Guarantor-level benefits
Shepherd School Annual Scholarship Program
$5,000 Annual Award
• Invitation to Annual Scholarship Reception with your student
• Early access to performances and events
• Shepherd Society concierge ticket service
• Recognition in online donor listing
$15,000 Annual Award
• All $5,000 Award benefits
• Invitation to lunch with your scholarship recipient
• Backstage meet-and-greet with guest artist
$50,000 Full Tuition Support
• Bespoke stewardship program to honor your transformational support
• Full recognition and engagement with your student’s journey
Our development team is here to help you create a meaningful giving experience that aligns with your values and passion for the arts.
To learn more about annual giving or the seat campaign, contact the Assistant Director of Development, Annual Giving at 713-348-4971 or Margaret.Ann.Zentner@rice.edu.
To learn more about major and endowed giving, contact the Donor Relations Officer at 713-348-4157 or Pippa.Jarvis@rice.edu, or the Senior Director, Development at 713-348-4992 or Nancy.Giles@rice.edu
