The Doug Talley Quartet

Formed in 1995, the Doug Talley Quartet has performed at numerous festivals, concerts, clubs and schools throughout the Midwest.  There have been no personnel changes during that time, which is part of the quartet's secret to success.  All four members of the quartet studied music in college, compose and arrange music, and contribute to the quartet's repertoire for recordings and live appearances.

 Lemuel Sheppard is a folk musician with rare abilities. His first performances were under Dr. Eva Jessey, internationally acclaimed choral director for George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess", who came to Pittsburg State University as Kansas Ambassador to the Arts, and Artist in Residence, in 1978.

Lemuel carries an appreciation for a wide range of vocal music he refers to as African-American traditional song. This, combined with his ability to perform many historical and geographical blues styles has gained him a reputation as an authority on African-American folk music. Despite his reputation for being a scholar, Lemuel feels his cultural heritage is his greatest asset as a performer.

In 1999, Lemuel Shppard was nominated by a congressional committee to represent the state of Kansas in a solo performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. That performance was presented live over the Internet and can still be viewed there on the Kennedy Center's Web Page. Lemuel prefers to define some performances as "short-term diplomatic duties." The U.S. Embassy in Brazil referred to Lemuel as "the perfect touring artist...talented, flexible, interested in the local culture, and knowledgeable of his own." The Eisteddfod International Music Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa, referred to Lemuel (the first American to perform there) as an example of inter-cultural relations.

Lemuel  Sheppard

Children with and without disabilities celebrate the music and dance of diverse cultures in an inclusive environment.

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