EarRelevant Staff | 18 JUL 2025
HOUSTON, Texas— Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music has announced its 2025–26 performance season, continuing a multiyear celebration of its 50th anniversary with a diverse lineup of orchestral concerts, operas, faculty commissions, and special events. The season reflects the school’s ongoing mission to pair world-class conservatory training with the academic resources of a major research university.
The new season marks several milestones for the institution, including a major gala concert, the premiere of newly commissioned works, and the arrival of eight full-time faculty members. It also showcases the school’s growing national profile, as evidenced by its broad programming, alumni achievements, and high-profile guest artists.
“Building on the momentum of last season, this year celebrates what our community has created together while looking ahead to the future,” said Shepherd School Dean Matthew Loden. “With new faculty and a continued emphasis on excellence, we’re poised for an exciting next chapter.”
The anniversary gala on November 8 will feature mezzo-soprano and Shepherd alumna Sasha Cooke, who will join the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Miguel Harth-Bedoya to premiere a movement from Another Starry Night, a song cycle by composition chair Pierre Jalbert. The event also honors longtime supporter Anne Duncan and is co-chaired by Anne and Albert Chao, along with Isabel and Danny David.
Harth-Bedoya, entering his first full season as Distinguished Resident Director of Orchestras, has programmed ten performances with both the Shepherd Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. Signature works, such as Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique Symphony, Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, and Brahms’ Symphony No. 4, appear alongside contemporary pieces by John Adams, Tania León, Mason Bates, and Nicky Sohn.
“The level of the Shepherd orchestras allows me to challenge and inspire the students in ways I once only imagined,” said Harth-Bedoya.
Miguel Harth-Bedoya conducting the Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra, March 3, 2024. (credit: Gustavo Raskosky)
The school’s opera program, led by Director of Opera Studies Joshua Winograde, will stage Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Verdi’s Falstaff, with full orchestras and large casts. A February showcase titled “Modern American Opera Scenes” will feature the premiere of A Joint Interest, a new opera by faculty composer Karim Al-Zand.
Opera performances will be directed by nationally recognized artists, including R.B. Schlather and Matt Hune, the latter heading an all-Houston creative team for Falstaff.
“This year, we’re bringing audiences into the heart of the artform with bold repertoire and expansive casts,” said Winograde. “The voices and talents you see on our stage are truly those of tomorrow’s stars.”
The 2025–26 season also expands the school’s commissioning initiative, with five new works by faculty members scheduled for premiere. Among them are Tombeaux: pour un création d’une rhapsodie by Arthur Gottschalk, featuring pianist and Shepherd alumnus Milton Rubén Laufer, and Chamber Concerto for Cello and Orchestra by Karim Al-Zand, spotlighting Professor Norman Fischer.
New to the season is a collaboration between the Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra and Chamber Players, led in part by new faculty member David Chan, concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Chan will also perform in faculty recitals and conduct a work in the joint concert program.
The faculty recital series and the “Sharing the Spotlight” concerts, which pair students with faculty performers, will continue throughout the year. Guest artists include violist Molly Carr of the Juilliard String Quartet, baritone Jean Bernard Cerin, organist Chelsea Chen, and the contemporary ensemble Latitude 49, which will collaborate with composition students during a three-day residency.
Other highlights include:
- Two chamber music festivals in November and April, featuring Shepherd’s full roster of instrumental students
- A family-friendly holiday concert in December and a February family concert featuring Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
- Free livestreams of most orchestra, chamber, and recital performances
- And the return of the graduate orchestral conducting program, with the introduction of a new undergraduate orchestral conducting degree to launch in fall 2026 — the first of its kind in the U.S.
In addition to Harth-Bedoya and Chan, other new faculty appointments include hornist Elizabeth Freimuth, oboist Erin Hannigan, harpist Allegra Lilly, trombonist Nick Platoff, and cellist Valentin Radutiu. Cristian Măcelaru, a Shepherd alumnus and Grammy-winning conductor, joins as Distinguished Visiting Artist.
Shepherd also plans upgrades to its concert halls, including new seating and flooring in both Stude Concert Hall and Duncan Recital Hall — the first renovations to those spaces since the opening of Alice Pratt Brown Hall in 1991.
Founded in 1974 and enrolling its first students in 1975, the Shepherd School of Music has evolved into one of the nation’s leading conservatories, boasting a student body of approximately 300 and a faculty renowned for both artistic excellence and pedagogical expertise. The 2025–26 season continues its celebration of a half-century of achievement, innovation, and community connection.
Most events are free or low-cost. Tickets for fall semester performances go on sale starting August 22, with gala concert tickets available on September 19. Additional details and a full calendar are available at music.rice.edu/events or by calling 713-348-8000. ■
Here are some of the orchestral and operatic events offered in the coming season.
Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra
- Sat, Sep 20, 2025 at 7:30pm
“A Symphonic Celebration”
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor.
SHOSTAKOVICH: Festive Overture
Mason BATES: Mothership
STRAUSS: Don Juan
RAVEL: Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé - Sat, Oct 25, 2025 at 7:30pm
“Momentum & Majesty”
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor.
John ADAMS: Short Ride in a Fast Machine
RESPIGHI: Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome)
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 4 - Fri, Dec 5, 2025 at 7:30pm
“Prokofiev’s Cinderella”
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor.
BRUCKNER: “Adagio” from Symphony No. 7
PROKOFIEV: Selections from Cinderella - Sat, Feb 7, 2026 at 7:30pm
“Sorrow & Joy”
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor.
Nicky SOHN: The Blue Hour (Cooper Prize Winner)
GERSHWIN: An American in Paris
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique” - Sat, Mar 7, 2026 at 7:30pm
“Britten, Sibelius & León”
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor.
Tania LEÓN: Pasajes
BRITTEN: The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 2 - Fri, Mar 27, 2026 at 7:30pm
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor; Ana Spasovska and Kyle Haake, assistant conductors; Szuyu Su, piano (Shepherd School Concerto Competition winner, 2025).
Jiaying LI: Olvidar (World Premiere)
RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 3 - Sat, Apr 4, 2026 at 7:30pm
“Shepherd Spotlight: Dvořák’s Cello Concerto”
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor; Ana Spasovska and Kyle Haake, assistant conductors; Sebastian Berofsky, cello (Shepherd School Concerto Competition winner, 2025).
Xingyi CHEN: Shattered Sky/Remaining Land (World Premiere)
DVOŘÁK: Cello Concerto</li> - Sat, Apr 25, 2026 at 7:30pm
“Virtuosic Soundscapes”
Kevin John Edusei, guest conductor.
BARTÓK: Concerto for Orchestra
DEBUSSY: La mer
Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra
- Sat, Sep 27, 2025 at 7:30pm
“Beethoven, Rossini & Brandt”
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 - Sun, Mar 8, 2026 at 2:00pm
“Springtime Rhapsody”
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor; Milton Rubén Laufer, 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 Opera
- Fri, Oct 31, 2025 at 7:30pm
Sun, Nov 2, 2025 at 2:00pm
Joshua Winograde, Director of Opera Studies; Louis Lohraseb, conductor; R.B. Schlather, director; Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra
MOZART: The Magic Flute - Sun, Feb 1, 2026 at 2:00pm
“Modern American Opera Scenes”
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor; Aleko Endowed Artist Paul Curran, director.
Karim AL-ZAND: A Joint Interest (Shepherd School of Music 50th Anniversary Commission).
Shepherd opera students will also perform scenes from contemporary American operas, accompanied by piano. - 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
VERDI: Falstaff
A full calendar of events including chamber concerts, faculty recitals, holiday specials, and more is available at music.rice.edu/events.
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Shepherd School of Music, Rice University: music.rice.edu
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