About Holly

---

 Originally from Los Alamos, New Mexico, Holly has had an unconventional path into professional classical music. After initially studying Vocal Performance at the University of New Mexico, she shifted gears to pursue the visual arts, earning a B.A. in Multimedia (Digital Animation) from the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, AZ. Though she launched a successful career as a video game artist, her passion for singing never waned. She continued her vocal training under Gail Dubinbaum and quickly embedded herself in the Arizona music scene. 

In 2006, Holly joined the Grammy® Award-winning Phoenix Chorale as a professional chorister—an experience she considers her definitive "on-the-job training." Over her 20-year tenure with the ensemble, she has performed nationwide and contributed to several of the group's celebrated recording projects. During her time with the Chorale, the ensemble’s discography has earned a total of ten Grammy® nominations and three Grammy® wins.  A champion of early music, Holly’s love for the genre began as a section leader at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral, where she mastered sight-reading polyphony and reading neumes under Adam Bartlett. Today, she is a member of Helios: A Modern Renaissance, a seven person early music ensemble dedicated to elevating historically neglected and underrepresented composers. In 2026, she performed with Helios in a high-profile collaboration with the Downtown Chamber Series at the iconic Monroe Street Abbey. 

As a versatile soloist, Holly appears regularly in concert series and operatic productions. Recent highlights include performing as the mezzo-soprano soloist in the Arizona Bach Festival’s period-instrument performance of Messiah (2025) and singing the mezzo solos for Dvořák’s rarely performed Stabat Mater at St. Barnabas. On the opera stage, she performed the role of Sesto in La Clemenza di Tito at the Trentino Music Festival in Italy (2019) and covered the role of Mercédès in Arizona Opera’s production of Carmen (2022).

Holly lives in Mesa with her husband, George, and their birds, Pico and Olive, where they enjoy exploring the Arizona outdoors.

Check out my Digital Art portfolios for something completely different!

https://hollysheppard.com/ 

https://www.artstation.com/hollysheppard2