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Michael Sheppard
MICHAEL SHEPPARD
Welcome
So, this is me. Or at least, a good chunk of it. I guess the important stuff is that I’m mainly a pianist but have recently begun to branch into conducting, audiobook narrating, and acting. I also have extremely eclectic tastes in nearly everything: I am moved as easily (if differently) by the ego-obliterating transcendence of Bach's B-minor Mass as by the particular insouciant magic of a well-timed burrito fart. Authenticity in all its forms is welcome. [edges surreptitiously farther down the sofa]
Also—quietly in the background since forever—I have been a composer and writer, though I’ve never made my living at either of those. And, while I am not one of those people who assigns any kind of ultimate worth to the amount of money he can bring in, it bears mentioning that the piano has been my primary bread and butter so far.
The composer’s viewpoint has always been my primary one, and it’s actually how I approach all other music, and even all other disciplines: what is there in the material that makes it special and unique, and how can I bring my audiences into that feeling-space?
This takes on whole different qualities in the narrating and acting worlds, as I’ve been finding out, and it’s that finding-out process that has always fascinated and enlivened me: how is one discipline like, and different from, another, and how can I use what I’ve learned in one to enrich my appreciation of—or performance in—another? Cross-pollination is my jam, as well as finding larger and larger wholenesses within which their constituent parts don’t lose their identities but enrich the entire tapestry. The world needs those songs.
You’ll find I’m pretty much an open book—some might call it “oversharing" (see opening paragraph), but those people are generally as fun as a box of flies—so feel free to peruse and ask questions, and thank you for your interest in my life and work. Or, if you happened upon my page randomly, consider it a happy surfing accident. Which is also my band name.
Cheers!
-Michael
Schedule
SEPTEMBER 18
Violin and Piano recital with Jessica Tong, Holy Trinity Series, Akron, Ohio—including music of Schubert, Poulenc, Boulenger, and Strauss
September 23
Kitchener Waterloo Chamber Music Society
with Jessica Tong, violin.
Works by Schubert, Poulenc, Boulanger, Strauss
Waterloo, ON
www.kwcms.org
October 29-30
Bartok Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Bozeman Symphony, conducted by Norman Huynh
January 17, 2023
Recital with Jennifer Grim, flute, at Penn State
https://25livepub.collegenet.com/calendars/up-aa-school-of-music?eventid=700743101
March 26, 2023
Clara Schumann piano trio with Kevin Smith, violin and Dariusz Skoraczewski, cello
April 20, 2023
Recital at the French Embassy
with Jessica Tong, violin
Washington, D.C.
https://franceintheus.org/spip.php?page=MF-all-upcoming-events
June 2, 2023
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3
Henderson Symphony Orchestra, Alexandra Arrieche, conductor
September 25
Hudson Chamber Music Series
with Jessica Tong, violin.
Works by Schubert, Poulenc, Boulanger, Strauss
Hudson, QC
www.hudsonchambermusic.ca
February 4-5, 2023
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Olympia Symphony
April 16, 2023
Saugerties ProMusica
with Jessica Tong, violin
Works by Schubert, Poulenc, Boulanger, Strauss
Saugerties, NY
www.saugertiespromusica.org
April 21, 2023
The Spire Series at First and Franklin
with Jessica Tong, violin
Works by Schubert, Poulenc, Boulanger, Strauss
Baltimore, MD
www.firstfranklin.org
September 20
Fredonia Faculty Recital
with.Jessica Tong, violin,
Works by Schubert, Poulenc, Boulanger, Strauss
Rosch Recital Hall,
280 Central Ave, Fredonia NY.
events.fredonia.edu
October 16
ProMusica San Miguel de Allende
with Jessica Tong, violin.
Works by Schubert, Poulenc, Gershwin, Strauss
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
www.promusicasma.org
December 4th
Recital with Jennifer Grim, flute, at Flute Fiesta 2022, Winston Salem, NC