Grace Shepard (b. 1994)
I started playing piano when I was young and am happy to call myself a musician. In addition to being a performer, primarily on the piano, I also enjoy researching, writing, arranging, composing, and teaching. Fluent in both traditional classical music and newer performance styles, I enjoy performing as a soloist, as well as in a group. I particularly enjoy chamber music and unconventional ensemble instrumentation.
As a researcher, I’m always interested in learning more about under-represented musicians, their work and performances, as well as music history, with an emphasis on sound studies. I’m also interested in the connection between sound and nature. Since I love hiking and exploring, I’m interested in connecting music to place in a way that can be beneficial to both. This is something I’m starting to explore in performances, composition, and, also in historical research.
Over the past years, I’ve majored in piano performance and graduated with a BM from U of SC (2016), a MM from Longy School of Music of Bard College (2018), and have a DMA from U of SC (2022).
Below, you can find a more traditional bio where I write about myself in the third person.
Bio
Grace Shepard is a pianist and composer based out of Pompano Beach, Florida. As a performer, she is equally interested in traditional and new music and has significant experience as a collaborative pianist. Throughout her performing and composing career, Shepard explores unique connections between time and place, as well as looking to highlight under-represented artists. She has performed at the Columbia Museum of Art, Bard College, Skidmore College, the University of South Carolina, and in outreach programs which have performed at local libraries, retirement communities, and local prison systems.
As a soloist, she has had the opportunity to premiere many works and to highlight composers, such as Mariah Reynolds Park, who have been overlooked by history. From the traditional piano repertoire, Shepard’s repertoire includes several works by Beethoven, Liszt, and Bach. In 2014, she made her international debut with orchestra, performing Beethoven’s Second Concerto. She has participated in masterclasses with the Parker Quartet, Anton Nel, Valentina Lisitsa, among others. She has performed chamber music at NASA conferences, at Skidmore College, and at the Harvard Musical Association.
A relative newcomer to composition, Shepard began composing for chamber and solo instruments in 2019. Her compositions have been performed at the 2021 NASM Conference and as part of the 30 Americans new works commission at Columbia Museum of Art. Equally influenced by classical music and more modern sources, her music is often inspired by nature, specific places in the world, and by literature and visual art.
An active teacher, Dr. Shepard has consistently maintained a studio of students ranging in age from 4 to adult. In the past, her students have competed in local competitions, achieved exemplary evaluation reports from GUILD and RCM, and perform a diverse repertoire of pieces. Her pedagogy focuses on creating full musical experiences for her students, based on their unique needs and goals.
Working with research from her dissertation, Shepard’s recent historical writing has been focused on Gilded Age performing in the United States and the life and times of Adele Aus Der Ohe. In addition, she focuses on under-represented groups and interdisciplinary art in her research.
In 2022, Shepard received a DMA in Piano Performance from the University of South Carolina, studying with Phillip Bush. She has also studied with Leslie Amper and Esther Ning Yau. She has worked with Dr. John Fitz Rogers for composition and arranging.
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