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Dr. Chris Sheppard
Assistant Professor in Music,
Director of Choral and Vocal Activities
Chamber Singers, Concert Choir, Private Voice,
Choral Conducting, and Aural Skills
e-mail: csheppard@msubillings.edu
office: Cisel 218
phone: (406) 657-2048
DMA University of Wisconsin
MM University of Northern Colorado
BFA Marshall University |
Now in his third year at MSUB, Dr. Sheppard has led the Chamber Singers on tours each spring and has twice been invited to conduct high school All-District choirs in Wyoming. This March, he will direct Montana Youth Sings, held for outstanding 7th-9th grade singers in eastern Montana.
Before coming to MSUB, Sheppard was the Director of Choral Activities at Bluefield College in Bluefield, Virginia. During his four-year tenure, participation in the choirs tripled, and the number of voice majors doubled. He led the Chamber Choir on tours to Florida, North and South Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia, as well as throughout Virginia. Sheppard has also taught at Aims Community College in Greeley, Colorado, and maintains a private voice studio.
At the Maud Powell Music Festival in LaSalle, IL, in both 2006 and 2007, Dr. Sheppard taught voice and directed the festival chorus. He also participated in its International Opera Institute as chorusmaster for Humperdink’s Hansel and Gretel, and Andezej Hanzelewicz’s Maud Powel: Queen of Violinists. In the spring of 2008, he will serve as chorusmaster for Rimrock Opera’s production of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore.
After receiving the only available graduate choral assistantship at the University of Wisconsin in 2002, Sheppard studied with Beverly Taylor and conducted the University Chorus, Women’s Chorus, Master Singers, and Choral Union. While in Madison, Sheppard also directed the acclaimed Madison Chamber Choir.
In addition to a DMA from the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Sheppard also holds an MM in choral conducting from the University of Northern Colorado, where he studied with Howard Skinner and Galen Darrough; and a BFA in vocal performance from Marshall University, where he worked under choral director David Castleberry. A proficient baritone soloist, Dr. Sheppard is active both on the stage and in recital. In addition to solo recitals, he has sung several operatic roles and performed often as a soloist in oratorios and other large-scale choral works.
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Dr. Sheppard was Choir Director for the 2001 World Scholar-Athlete Games in Kingston, Rhode Island, in which over two thousand 15-19 year-olds from over 150 countries participated. He has also directed festival choruses in Montana, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming; and is a frequently requested adjudicator for both solo and choral competitions.
Awards:
“Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers” 2002-2003
“Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers” 2004-2005
“Who’s Who in America” 2006
Major voice instructors:
Ilona Kombrink
Jeffrey Price
Paul Balshaw
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