Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music Announces 2025-26 Season

The Shepherd School continues its 50th-anniversary celebration with a gala, faculty commissions, and a continued commitment to the highest level of musical training

Credit: Brandon Martin

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(Houston, TX, July 16, 2025) — The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University continues its multiyear 50th-anniversary celebration in the upcoming 2025-26 season. With orchestral, chamber, opera, and recital programs, the milestone season showcases the excellence of Shepherd’s students and faculty, alongside appearances by distinguished guest artists.

“With this 2025-26 season, we build on the momentum begun in the 2024-25 season to properly honor this major Shepherd milestone,” said Shepherd School Dean Matthew Loden. “Our school is poised to launch into its next phase with a stellar faculty — including eight new faculty members joining us this season — as well as an array of recent alumni achievements that make us all proud. This upcoming season celebrates everything our community has built together, and looks ahead at what’s still to come.”

“The content of repertoire throughout the entire school year reflects our balanced musical diet, comprising a wide range of repertoire from the classics, romantics, impressionists, modernists, and living composers,” said Distinguished Resident Director of Orchestras Miguel Harth-Bedoya. “The high level of the Shepherd School orchestras allows me to challenge and inspire them beyond imagination.”

“In programming our operas for this important milestone year, we’ve selected pillar works of the canon that feature and challenge a large number of our world-class virtuosic vocalists and instrumentalists. Big operas, big casts, and big orchestras,” said Director of Opera Studies Joshua Winograde. “We want our audiences to be very aware that they are seeing the stars of tomorrow when they come to the Shepherd School.”

Founded in 1974 with students first enrolling in the music program in 1975, the Shepherd School provides a one-of-a-kind experience to its students: a world-class conservatory training with the opportunities and resources of a leading research university, pairing artistic mastery with academic rigor and curiosity. In its 50th-anniversary season, Shepherd celebrates its deep connection to the Houston community, its preeminent faculty, and its global alumni network while also looking ahead to the future of the musical arts.

Credit: Brandon Martin

Season highlights include:

• A 50th-anniversary celebration gala on November 8, featuring the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra and mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke (BM ’04), led by Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Cooke performs the premiere of a movement from Another Starry Night, a song cycle by Shepherd’s Chair of Composition and Theory, Pierre Jalbert, commissioned for the 50th anniversary; the full cycle will be premiered in the 2026-27 season. 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. Anne Duncan is the Gala Honoree; Anne and Albert Chao and Isabel and Danny David are the Gala Co-Chairs; and Shawn Stephens and Jim Jordan are the Underwriter Chairs.

• Ten symphony and chamber orchestra performances, programmed by Miguel Harth-Bedoya in his first full season as Distinguished Resident Director of Orchestras. Throughout the season, both the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra and Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra perform cornerstones of the classical repertoire — such as Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2 and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique” — and works by living composers John Adams, Mason Bates, Pulitzer Prize winner Tania León, and Shepherd School Cooper Prize Winner Nicky Sohn.

• Two concerts that showcase the breadth of Shepherd student talent, featuring Shepherd School Concerto Competition winners Szuyu Su and Sebastian Berofsky, Shepherd Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting students Kyle Haake and Ana Spasovska, and alumni composers Jiaying Li and Xingyi Chen.

• A first-ever collaboration between the Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra and Chamber Players on the stage of Morrison Theater at Brockman Hall for Opera, featuring Concerto Competition winner Jackson Bernal. New faculty member David Chan, concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, prepares the ensemble and conducts one piece on the program. 

• The continuation of the Shepherd School’s 50th anniversary commissioning initiative, begun in the 2024-25 season, with five additional premieres by Shepherd composition faculty taking place over the season, including Anthony Brandt’s Chamber Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, featuring Professor of Cello and Chair of Chamber Music Norman Fischer; Kurt Stallmann and Joseph Campana’s multimedia collaborative work The Fruit and the Work; Pierre Jalbert’s Another Starry Night; Karim Al-Zand’s A Joint Interest; and Arthur Gottschalk’s Tombeaux: pour un creation d’une rhapsodie for piano and chamber orchestra, featuring pianist Milton Rubén Laufer (Shepherd MM ’98, DMA ’03).

• Fully staged performances of Mozart’s The Magic Flute (Louis Lohraseb, conductor; R.B. Schlather, director) and Verdi’s Falstaff (Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor; Matt Hune, director, as part of an all-Houston creative team) presented by Shepherd School Opera, helmed by Director of Opera Studies Joshua Winograde, with the Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra. Opera students also perform on Modern American Opera Scenes, which includes the world premiere of faculty composer Al-Zand’s A Joint Interest with the Shepherd School Chamber Players conducted by Harth-Bedoya, as well as scenes from other contemporary American operas led by Aleko Endowed Artist Paul Curran.

• Two chamber music festivals, each featuring three days of captivating chamber music of various configurations, which involve all Shepherd instrumental students and provide crucial opportunities for ensemble-building.

• Contemporary ensemble Latitude 49, which blends the finesse of a classical ensemble with the drive and precision of a fine-tuned rock band, works with Shepherd composition students and gives a public concert during a three-day residency. Other guests include Molly Carr (violist of The Juilliard String Quartet), Jean Bernard Cerin (baritone), Chelsea Chen (organ), and Jason Hardink (piano).  

• Free livestreams of most Shepherd School performances, including orchestra, chamber music, and faculty and student recitals.

• Family-friendly programming, including a holiday Spirit of the Season performance in December and a Family Concert performance of Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra by the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra in February.

• Eight new faculty members: Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Distinguished Resident Director of Orchestras and Professor of Conducting; David Chan, Professor of Violin; Elizabeth Freimuth (Shepherd MM ‘98), Professor of Horn; Erin Hannigan, Professor of Oboe; Allegra Lilly, Associate Professor of Harp; Cristian Macelaru (Shepherd MM ‘06, ‘08), Distinguished Visiting Artist; Nick Platoff, Associate Professor of Trombone; and Valentin Radutiu, Professor of Cello. There will also be faculty recitals throughout the season and Sharing the Spotlight performances, which provide Shepherd students a unique opportunity to share the stage with their faculty mentors.

• The return of the orchestral conducting graduate program led by Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Graduate students assist Shepherd orchestra activities and are associate conductors of Rice University’s Campanile Orchestra. The addition of an undergraduate orchestral conducting degree, the first of its kind in the nation, with the initial cohort commencing classes in Fall 2026. 

• New seating and flooring in Stude Concert Hall and Duncan Recital Hall, updated for the first time since Alice Pratt Brown Hall’s opening in 1991, providing a more comfortable and enhanced listening experience for patrons and students alike.

Credit: Lynn Lane

Ticketing Information:

With more than 400 events each season, many of which are free or at minimal cost, the Shepherd School offers a variety of programming options. The Shepherd School events calendar includes the latest schedule updates and which performances require tickets.

Tickets for the fall semester will be available on the following dates: orchestra performances on sale August 22; Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Spirit of the Season on Friday, September 5; and concert-only gala tickets on September 19. Tickets for spring semester performances will go on sale in the new year. Shepherd School annual fund donors at the Ambassador level ($250) and above get presale ticket access.

Patrons are encouraged to sign up for the Shepherd School’s email list for on-sale alerts and news.

Tickets are available online at music.rice.edu/events or over the phone at 713-348-8000, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. CT.

 

Season Event Listing:

Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra

 

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 

 

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

 

Prokofiev’s Cinderella

Fri, Dec 5, 2025 at 7:30pm

Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor

• Bruckner: Adagio from Symphony No. 7
• Prokofiev: Selections from Cinderella

 

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”

 

Britten, Sibelius & León

Sat, Mar 7, 2026 at 7:30pm

Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor 

• Tania León: Pasajes
• Britten: The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Purcell)
• Sibelius: Symphony No. 2

 

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

 

Shepherd Spotlight: Dvorák’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)
• Dvorák: Cello Concerto 

 

Virtuosic Soundscapes

Sat, Apr 25, 2026 at 7:30pm

Kevin John Edusei, guest conductor

• Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra
• Debussy: La mer

*Shepherd School Concerto Competition winner, 2025

 

Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra

 

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

 

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 creation d’une rhapsodie (Shepherd School of Music 50th Anniversary Commission) (World Premiere)
• Schumann: Symphony No. 1, “Spring”

 

Shepherd School Chamber Players

Color & Light

Thu, Dec 4, 2025 at 7:30pm 

• Ravel: Introduction et Allegro
• Samuel Carl Adams: Lighthouse
• Sarah Gibson: I prefer living in color
• Price: Octet for Brasses and Piano
• Martinu: Nonetto No. 2

 

Shepherd School Chamber Players & Orchestra

Worlds Apart, Sounds United

Fri, Feb 6, 2026 at 7:30pm

• Still: Ennanga
• Hummel: Grand Concerto in F Major (David Chan, conductor; Jackson Bernal*, bassoon)
• Jasmine Barnes: The Boroughs
• Mozart: Symphony No. 40

*Shepherd School Concerto Competition winner, 2025

 

Shepherd School Opera

Joshua Winograde, Director of Opera Studies

 

Mozart’s The Magic Flute

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

 

Modern American Opera Scenes

Sun, Feb 1, 2026 at 2:00pm

Featuring 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.

 

Verdi’s Falstaff

Fri, Apr 17, 2026 at 7:30pm
Sun, Apr 19, 2026 at 2:00pm
Tue, Apr 21, 2026 at 7:30pm

Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor 

Matt Hune, director

Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra

 

Chamber Music Festival 

Nov 14-16, 2025

Apr 10-12, 2026

 

Chamber Music for Winds

All performances at 7:30 pm

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 

All performances at 7:30 pm

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

 

Tue, Nov 11, 2025

Chamber Music for Percussion

 

Wed, Feb 4, 2026

Mixed Chamber Music for Percussion

 

Tue, Apr 14, 2026

Chamber Music for Percussion

 

2026 Shepherd School Concerto Competition

 

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

 

Spirit of the Season

Sat, Dec 6, 2025, 7:30pm

 

Family Concert: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

Sat, Feb 28, 2026 at 11:00am

 

Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra

Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor

Ana Spasovska and Kyle Haake, assistant conductors

 

Faculty Recitals

 

Sharing the Spotlight: Faculty Wind Quintet & Friends

Fri, Sep 12, 2025 at 7:30pm

 

Kurt Stallmann & Joseph Campana present The Fruit and the Work - Shepherd School of Music 50th Anniversary Commission (World Premiere)

Sun, Oct 5, 2025 at 2:00pm

 

Jon Kimura Parker & Valentin Radutiu

Wed, Oct 8, 2025 at 7:30pm

 

Sharing the Spotlight: David Chan & Cho-Liang Lin

Wed, Oct 15, 2025 at 7:30pm

 

Marianne Gedigian, Flute

Sat, Oct 18, 2025 at 5:00pm

 

Sharing the Spotlight: Susan Dunn-Rachleff & Friends

Sun, Oct 19, 2025 at 7:30pm

 

Fischer Duo

Mon, Oct 27, 2025 at 7:30pm

 

Jon Kimura Parker, Piano

Sat, Nov 1, 2025 at 7:30pm

 

Sharing the Spotlight: Brinton Averil Smith & Friends

Mon, Nov 3, 2025 at 7:30pm

 

Cho-Liang Lin, Jon Kimura Parker & Clive Greensmith

Mon, Nov 17, 2025 at 7:30pm

 

Sharing the Spotlight: Jon Kimura Parker & Friends

Wed, Jan 21, 2026 at 7:30pm

 

Sharing the Spotlight: Norman Fischer & Friends

Fri, Jan 30, 2026 at 7:30pm

 

Erin Hannigan, Benjamin Kamins & Lyndsi Maus

Tue, Feb 3, 2026 at 7:30pm

 

Richie Hawley & Friends

Sun, Mar 1, 2026 at 5:00pm

 

Brinton Averil Smith, Cello

Fri, Mar 6, 2026 at 7:30pm

 

Cho-Liang Lin & Friends

Tue, Mar 10, 2026 at 7:30pm

 

Sohyoung Park, Piano

Sun, Apr 26, 2026 at 5:00pm

 

Campanile Orchestra

 

Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Music Director

Ana Spasovska and Kyle Haake, Associate Conductors

 

Sun, Nov 23, 2025 at 4:00pm

Featuring works by Tchaikovsky, Dvorák, and John Williams

 

Sat, Apr 18, 2026 at 4:00pm

Repertoire to be announced

 

Rice Chorale

Thomas Jaber, Music Director

 

Mon, Nov 24, 2025 at 4:15pm

Mon, Apr 13, 2026 at 4:15pm

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Media Contact:

Caroline Finane
8VA Music Consultancy
caroline@8vamusicconsultancy.com