SHEPHERD SCHOOL STUDENTS PERFORMED AT KENNEDY CENTER
Office of News and Media Relations
Dawn Dorsey, Special to the Rice News
The Rice University Shepherd School of Music made an encore performance as part of a program that brings the nation’s most promising young conservatory artists to one of the best-known venues in the country.
Several students soon headed to Washington to perform in the Terrace Theater at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, marking the second year the Shepherd School has been invited to participate in The Conservatory Project.
The project brought together students from eight top conservatories for a series of one-hour performances of classical music, opera and jazz from May 22 to 29. Rice’s performance was on May 28.
“This is a special opportunity for our Shepherd School students to perform in one of our nation’s most exalted music venues,” said Robert Yekovich, dean of the Shepherd School of Music. “Visibility of this kind enhances the school’s fine reputation and brings credit to Rice University.”
Adding to the honor for students is the fact that attendees are selected by faculty to represent the best of the school’s musical talent.
Participants were:
• Fei Xie, bassoon, accompanied by pianist Kana Mimaki
• Judson Perry, tenor, accompanied by pianist Calogero Di Liberto
• Evan Bertrand, marimba
• Novus, trombone quartet of Christopher Beaudry, Mike Clayville, Mike Selover and John Widmer
The program included works composed by faculty composers Pierre Jalbert and Art Gottschalk, as well as Alain Bernaud, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Chris Brubeck and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Shepherd School students were joined at the eight-day event by their peers from Berklee College of Music, The Juilliard School, The Curtis Institute of Music, Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, The Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University, the School of Music at Northwestern University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
