ABOUT THE SHEPHERD SCHOOL OF MUSIC

When Sallie Shepherd Perkins entered into an agreement with Rice University to endow the Shepherd School of Music, it was a realization of her lifelong dream and a testament to her love of music. Her gift laid the foundation from which one of the nation’s premier music schools has grown and flourished, preparing young musicians to succeed in the world of classical music and beyond.

Stude Concert Hall

Founded in 1974 The Shepherd School of Music boasts world-class faculty, students with exceptional musical and academic talent, and acoustically superior facilities. Graduates of the Shepherd School can be found in orchestras around the globe, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco and Chicago symphonies, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Orchestre National de France, and have sung in several of the world’s most prestigious opera houses and recital halls.

Approximately 70,000 Houstonians regularly attend more than 400 free concerts and recitals offered annually by students and faculty at the Shepherd School. 

Additionally, the School takes pride in the fact that nearly 30 percent of the orchestral positions in the Houston Symphony are held by Shepherd School faculty and alumni.

With this record of success and a future with no upper limit, the Shepherd School continues to ascend to ever-greater heights. Maintaining its rank among America’s finest schools of music remains a long term aspiration.

Toward that end, continuing to nurture the growth in opera training while maintaining one of the nation’s premier orchestral programs will be imperative.  Enhancing other programmatic areas integral to a well-rounded music school is equally important.  Altogether, this necessitates ongoing aggressive resource development for programs, merit scholarships and faculty recruitment and retention.