Richard James Shephard MBE,[1] DL,[2] FRSCM (20 March 1949 – 20 February 2021) was a British composer, educator, and Director of Development and Chamberlain of York Minster.
[3][4][5] Shephard was a chorister at Gloucester Cathedral, where the organist was then the composer Herbert Sumsion, before taking a degree at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
While at Cambridge, Shephard studied under composer David Willcocks, Hugh Macdonald, the great expert on Berlioz, and Alan Ridout.
It was at this time when he was greatly influenced by Richard Seal and Lionel Dakers, the former director of the Royal School of Church Music.
Aston, Oxley, How, Shephard, and Sumsion feature in our catalogue because they measure up to these needs, produce what we want and what we can consequently sell in large numbers.
[17] He remained headmaster of the school until 2004 when he stepped down,[18] and was then Director of Development at York Minster, co-ordinating fundraising, and raising more than £20 million to restore the Great East Window.