Roy Shepherd

Who is Roy Shepherd?

Roy Shepherd was an Australian pianist who is most renowned as a piano teacher at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium.

In 1925 he won the Clarke Scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music in London. He remained in London for four years, then had two years of study under Alfred Cortot and Blanche Bascourret at the École Normale de Musique de Paris. He then returned to Australia to perform and teach.

In 1951 he was invited back to the École Normale to teach advanced students, being probably the first Australian pianist to be so honoured.

His students at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium included: George Logie-Smith, Bruce Hungerford, Keith Humble, Ian Munro, Helen Gifford, Alan Kogosowski, James Helme Sutcliffe, Warren Thomson, Lawrence Whiffin, Nehama Patkin, Antony Gray, Tony Fenelon, Michael Bertram, Victor Sangiorgio and others.

It was due to Roy Shepherd's influence that George Logie-Smith, at that time a 22-year-old who had no academic qualifications or teacher training, was appointed as Director of Music at Geelong College in 1937.