Composer, Orchestra Conductor and Professor of Music
Arthur Shepherd (February 19, 1880 – January 12, 1958) was an American composer and conductor in the 20th century.
Life and career
Shepherd was born in Paris, Idaho, into a Mormon family. His family loved to sing and his father, William N. B. Shepherd,
wrote the hymn “Give Us Room That We May Dwell.”[1] Shepherd performed with both the Paris Brass Band and the Bear Lake Stake Choir.[1]
Shepherd entered the New England Conservatory when he was only twelve years old. After graduating with honors and as president
of his class,[1] Shepherd returned to his family who had moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, and led a local orchestra for six years.[1] In 1901, he married Hattie Hooper Jennings.[1]
In 1927 he returned to teaching at the Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He retired in 1950 and died in 1958, after a failed operation at a Cleveland hospital.[2] He composed over 100 works, including symphonies, string quartets and songs.[3]
Shepherd was a Latter-day Saint.[4] Although around the time of World War I, his divorce and remarriage, he distanced himself from the faith, he maintained a faith in God and his connections to the church and his people.[1] His work made reference to the geography and music of the Latter-day Saints.[1]
