Richard Shephard MBE (1949-2021)

It is with the greatest sadness that the Foundation announces the death of Richard James Shephard MBE, DL, FRSCM. On 20 February 2021, Richard passed away at his home in York, aged 71.

Hamish Ogston, Chair of Trustees at the Hamish Ogston Foundation has made the following statement:

“A thoroughly good man, self-effacing, long-suffering and would immediately own up to any gaps in his knowledge or experience. A great loss to me as a composer, advisor and friend.”

Both Shephard and Ogston’s roots lie in the British choral tradition. Choristers of Gloucester Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral respectively, they met for the first time in York after Ogston moved the headquarters of his company CPPGroup to York in 1998.

As Director of Development for York Minster, Shephard approached Ogston for financial assistance in clinching perhaps his most notable funding achievement - the restoration of York Minster’s Great East Window. Shephard persuaded Ogston to contribute the shortfall for the £19m project, having already coordinated a number of donors to match the target of £9m set by the Heritage Lottery Fund, itself having pledged £10m.

Left: Richard Shephard standing before a copy of Turner’s painting of the Minster. Centre: Banner articulating significance of Turner’s artwork. Right: Richard Shephard standing over the stone dedicated to Hamish Ogston’s donation to the Great East Window.

Thereafter, Shephard and Ogston developed a friendship forged through their dedication to a number of projects based around cultural philanthropy. For some of this time, Shephard volunteered in the formal capacity of Music Advisor to the Foundation. Here, Shephard was responsible for assessing the quality and viability of a number of proposals, as well as scoping the potential for brand new initiatives. One such project was to assess the feasibility of wielding the expertise of the York Glazier’s Trust in the restoration of ChristChurch Cathedral, New Zealand.

There is little doubt that Ogston’s fondness for Shephard is attributable to his effortless blend of levity and earnestness; some of Ogston’s more eccentric initiatives - celebrations and events marked by the unorthodox combination of vintage cars, hot air balloons and religious buildings - have been dignified by Shephard’s masterful compositions, A Vision Of Wheels (a favourite of the choristers at Liverpool Cathedral - see below) and God Is Gone Up With A Merry Noise.

In honour of Shephard’s life work, his service to the Foundation, and their friendship, Ogston announced the Richard Shephard Scholarship at the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience in tackling Motor Neurone Disease where Shephard was himself a patient.