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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2008 > July > 14 > Entry
Sheppard retires from Chorus Austin
From Chorus Austin comes the news that artistic director Kenny Sheppard is retiring from the post he’s held for more than seven years.
The official announcement.
Kenny Sheppard has retired from his position as Artistic Director of Chorus Austin. In a letter to the chorus, Sheppard expressed profound appreciation for the opportunity to have worked with the talented and committed musicians of the Austin Civic Chorus and the Austin Vocal Arts Ensemble.
During his seven and one-half years’ tenure, Sheppard conducted more than 50 concerts for Chorus Austin including performances at Carnegie Hall in New York, The International Festival-Institute at Round Top, the convention of the Texas Choral Director’s Association in San Antonio, and the Georgetown Festival of the Arts.
With Chorus Austin, Sheppard appeared as guest conductor of the Austin Symphony six times, and he prepared the chorus for eleven additional performances with the ASO. Two of these collaborations were voted as outstanding performances of their category by the Austin Critics Table: Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” was named outstanding choral performance for 2003, and Shostakovich’s “Babi Yar” was named outstanding symphonic concert for 2006. A third collaboration, Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony,” was nominated in as outstanding symphonic performance in 2005. Sheppard most recently worked with the ASO in May when he prepared the chorus for another performance of Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony” at the Long Center.
Two additional concerts by Chorus Austin under Sheppard’s direction were nominated as outstanding choral concerts by the Austin Critics Table: “Mass in Time of War” by Haydn and “St. Paul” by Mendelssohn. Sheppard’s final concert with Chorus Austin was at St. Ignatius Church in Prague, Czech Republic, as part of a European concert tour.
Sheppard will continue his full-time position as Professor of Music at Southwestern University and as Director of the Conductor’s Institute of Southwestern University. He is in the process of recruiting singers to establish the Festival Chorus for the Georgetown Festival of the Arts, 2009.
Chorus Austin will continue with is 2008-2009 season, “Ascension,” as planned, with auditions being held on August 25, September 1, and September 2. The organization will be appointing interim conductor(s) to prepare and lead the ensembles while a national search for a permanent Artistic Director is in process. Any interested parties should contact Brian Wagner, Executive Director, about submission of resumes and for more details on available positions.
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