SHEPHERD SCHOOL OF MUSIC 30th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
A RESOUNDING SUCCESS -
EVENT RAISES $2.2M FOR ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIPS
Stephanie Jones
Director of Development
Email: sajones@rice.edu
World-renowned violinist, Itzhak Perlman, joined The Shepherd School of Music as it marked 30 years with a gala concert and dinner on February 4, 2006 at the music school’s Alice Pratt Brown Hall at Rice University. The presence of the internationally-acclaimed performer, together with the outpouring of support from the Shepherd School’s friends and supporters, resulted in one of the most extraordinarily successful and memorable nights in the history of the school.
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More than seven hundred Gala patrons had the rare opportunity to experience the artistry of world-renowned violinist, Itzhak Perlman, performing as both violinist and conductor at a 7:30 p.m. concert. Afterward, attendees enjoyed an elegant 3-course Jackson Hicks supper, along with dancing to the music of the David Caceres Orchestra. The post-concert festivities took place in a Richard Flowers/Events Company inspired tented ballroom on the East Lawn of Alice Pratt Brown Hall. The English Garden theme infused the tent with thousands of fragrant English roses. Tickets for the gala started at $500, with proceeds going toward the school’s endowed scholarship support for its gifted young students.
According to Dean Robert Yekovich, “This Gala formed the centerpiece of the 30th anniversary celebration of The Shepherd School of Music and brought into focus the nationally recognized achievements of the School’s outstanding orchestral program.”
The concert featured Perlman performing with the Shepherd School orchestras in the intimacy of Stude Concert Hall, where the award-winning musician filled the air with his virtuosic playing of Mozart’s “Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major.” Music Director Larry Rachleff deftly led The Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra alongside maestro Perlman.
Perlman shifted from soloist to conductor when he led the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 4 in F Minor.” Of particular note, among the musicians in the orchestra was Perlman’s daughter, Ariella, a fourth-year flute major at the Shepherd School, who presented her father with a bouquet of roses at the conclusion of the concert.
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Long-time friends of the Shepherd School, Anne Duncan and J.D. Bucky Allshouse, co-chaired the event. Through the gala, the school established new endowed scholarship support and enhanced existing scholarship endowments for its talented students. Raising $2.2M for endowed scholarship funds, the Shepherd School moved one step closer to its goal of raising $10M for endowed scholarships, to ultimately have the ability to offer free tuition to all of its graduate students.
A standard practice among professional orchestras, Rice recently created a new opportunity for naming a select few of the Shepherd School orchestra’s principal chairs. Three of these positions were named in conjunction with the Gala celebration, including the Anne and Charles Duncan Concertmaster Endowed Chair, the Charlotte A. Rothwell Endowed Chair in Keyboard, and the Margaret C. Pack Endowed Chair in Horn.
The most accomplished music students earn this distinct honor when they are appointed to a principal orchestral chair for each of the six symphony orchestra concerts throughout the academic year. Principal chair endowments will provide substantive scholarship support for these students and add to the competitive scholarship packages for prospective students that enable the Shepherd School to successfully recruit the most talented young artist/scholars in the world.
Since its inauguration 30 years ago, The Shepherd School of Music has ascended to the top echelon of music conservatories in the United States and has become one of the nation’s most prestigious major university-level music programs. The school is consistently ranked as one of the top 10 music schools in the United States, and its orchestral training program is considered to be among the very finest. For more information on the Gala or the Shepherd School, call 713-348-4992. |
