Archives West Finding Aid

Although born in Paris, Idaho, 125 miles north of Salt Lake City in the colorful Bear Lake Valley, Arthur Shepherd has always been claimed by Utah as one of its most distinguished sons.

The younger generation would not remember his tremendous contributions to our local culture; oldsters will never forget what he did. The past three and one-half decades of his life were spent largely in Cleveland, where he became the most influential moving force in that city's musical development--as music critic for the Cleveland Press, assistant conductor of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, program annotator for the orchestra, concert pianist and chairman of Western Reserve University's first-rate music department.

In the latter post he exerted influence in the nation's national music organizations, particularly MTNA (Music Teachers National Assn.) and NASM (National Association of Schools of Music). And yet, it was in none of the aforementioned capacities that he made his most significant contributions--but rather, in the area of composition. He cut a tremendous swath, both nationally and internationally, as a composer. His works have been widely performed both in this country and abroad. Utah Symphony, under Maurice Abravanel, performed his "Horizons" during the 1952-53 season and his "Overture to a Drama" earlier.

Arthur Shepherd was cosmopolitan in outlook, a recognized figure in the music world; yet, at the same time, he loved his periodic visits to his "home" in Salt Lake City where his brothers Albert and Charles made such lasting contributions in the string and piano fields.

His "Overture to a Drama," composed in 1919, received four performances by the Cleveland Orchestra alone, the last being "illuminated by an impassioned performance under George Szell," according to the feature story in the April 1950 issue of Musical Quarterly.

Arthur Shepherd entered the New England Conservatory at the tender age of 12. There, for five years, he studied with Chadwick, Goetschius and others. Graduating from the conservatory with honors at 17, he returned to Salt Lake City where he remained during the next 11 years. Here he received his "boot" training as conductor of the old Salt Lake Theater Orchestra and the Salt Lake Symphony Orchestra, "grandfather" of the present-day Utah Symphony. During these years, too, his star as composer began its ascent. An "Overture Joyeuse" earned for him the initial Paderewski prize of $1,000 in 1902--a good-sized sum by present-day inflation standards.

In 1920, at the age of 40, he moved to Cleveland, remaining there until his death last week.

His best known works, "Triptych," the Second Piano Sonata, and "Horizons," Foundation award in 1928, received performances following its composition by the major orchestras of this country and by others as far off as Paris, Prague and Warsaw.

Upon retiring from his Western Reserve post in 1948, he was immediately signed for guest teaching at Columbia University. In 1952-53, at the invitation of Dr. Leroy Robertson, he accepted a similar short-term situation at the University of Utah. Dr. Robertson has written of Shepherd:

"I feel a great personal loss in the passing of Arthur Shepherd. As a boy I held him in high esteem as a composer, although I knew of him only by reputation. After our meeting in later years we became close friends."

"With Cyrus E. Dallin and Mahonri Young, two other prominent Utah artists of his generation, Arthur Shepherd has brought widespread respect and renown to our state."

Arthur Shepherd was born in 1880 and died in 1958.

(This biograhy was taken from a 1958 Salt Lake Tribune article written by Lowell Durham.)