Richard Shephard

From November 1992 Salisbury Orchestral Society Programme

Richard Shephard successfully combines careers in education and composing. Having worked for 15 years in Salisbury at the Cathedral School and as a lay vicar in the Cathedral Choir, he moved in 1985 to York as Headmaster of the Minster School. He is now secretary of the Choir Schools' Association. As a composer, he is perhaps best known for his choral works which are sung in churches throughout the world. His larger scale works for chorus and orchestra include St Luke Passion (Southwell 1986), Requiem (Sunderland 1988) and There Was Such Beauty (Gloucester 1991). Recent commissions have come from the Three Choirs Festival, the Woodard Schools, the Goldsmiths' Company and the Ryedale Festival. At present he is working on a piece for reader and orchestra based upon the children's story, The Musicians of Bremen.