James Sheppard

EARLY CHILDHOOD DEPARTMENT - ACCOMPANIST

INSTRUMENTAL AND VOCAL DEPARTMENT - PIANO, ACCOMPANIST, Musicianship

James Sheppard is a versatile musician who wears many hats. He is a composer, performer and teaching artist living in Yorkville, Manhattan. His musical career lies in a colorful mix of nightlife theater, classical music and indie rock.

James has composed for Sasha Velour’s shows Nightgowns, Smoke and Mirrors, One Dollar Drags and her cover of Weill and Brecht’s “Pirate Jenny” from The Threepenny Opera. Recently, he toured his original music with drag queen violinist Thorgy Thor in Thorgy Does Christmas! through the City Winery circuit in 2024. He has music directed her shows Queen of the Night on WQXR, the Thorcestra at Gramercy Theatre and Live at the Art House Provincetown. His collaborations with chanteuse Daphne Always resulted in a year-long residency at Club Cumming, several shows at Joe’s Pub and a Brooklyn Nightlife Award in 2018. The duo also held a residency at the Laurie Beechman Theater for their original show, By A Thread, in 2022. They have since showcased their energetic cabaret on the JoCo Cruise in March 2024 & 2025. James’ arrangements for the NYC rock group Matt Krenz & The Divine were released on their most recent album, Fat Boy Ingénue in October 2024. James was the composer-in-residence at the Hill and Hollow Music retreat in the summer of 2018, writing music for The Emerald Trio.

As an educator, James recently joined the Manhattan School of Music's Precollege faculty, teaching Music Theory and Composition. He is faculty at the Diller-Quaile School of Music for their early childhood and instrumental vocal departments. Additionally, he has composed for the Living Arts Collaborative, where his original children’s concerts Help Us Compose a Song!, The Story of Babar the Elephant and Old MacDonald Had a Band have traveled to over fifty school districts in the Adirondacks. James is also a Baritenor vocalist for the Schola Cantorum under the direction of James Wetzel at the Church of Saint Vincent-Ferrer.

James received his BM and MM degrees in Classical Composition from the Manhattan School of Music under the Jay Rubinton Scholarship.