Shepherd School loses three faculty, staff

By Seth Brown     1/13/11 6:00pm

The Shepherd School of Music lost two professors and one staff member over the course of the past semester - Trombone Professor David Waters died Sept. 25, Violin Professor Sergiu Luca died Dec. 6 and Concert Manager Tom Littman died Dec. 22.Double Bass Professor Paul Ellison said that he first met Waters in 1966 when he started playing for the Houston Symphony Orchestra and that both of them went on to be founding professors of the Shepherd School. Ellison is now the only remaining founding faculty member at the Shepherd School.

"David Waters I considered to be a close, close friend who was always there, as all close friends are, either when there's a need, or just to enjoy each other's company," Ellison said. "Our shared life experiences, starting in the fall of 1966 in the Houston Symphony, and then later having the opportunity to be among those that started the Shepherd School, was enriched by the fact that we got to walk those paths together."

Dean of Music Robert Yekovich said that Waters is succeeded by Houston Symphony Principal Trombonist Allen Barnhill and Houston Symphony Bass Trombonist Phillip Freeman.

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Luca first came to the Shepherd School in 1983, and Yekovich said he was partially responsible for the school's ascent in the ranks of American music schools.

"[Luca] was one of the pivotal faculty members to the level of reputation that the Shepherd School currently enjoys."

Ellison said that asking about Luca was like asking about the universe.

"Making music with him was kind of like holding your own feet to the fire - you knew when you signed on to play with Sergiu that your playing was going to be under serious scrutiny, but that was OK, because he did the same thing to himself," Ellison said. "If anything, he held his own standard of playing to a higher level than anyone else."

While in Houston, Sergiu also founded Da Camera, which produces a number of ensemble music concerts in Houston, and was a co-founder and the artistic director of Context, which specializes in presenting classical performances on period instruments.

Houston Symphony Associate Concertmaster Eric Halen said he was one of Luca's first university students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1978. Halen said that Luca's playing and teaching both focused on musical originality.

"Everybody that studied with him, he taught them to think for themselves as artists," Halen said. "He tried to get all of us to think for ourselves, try to bring something unique to every interpretation."

Littman started working as the Shepherd School's concert manager 24 years ago. According to Yekovich, Littman was responsible for making programs for the approximately 380 concerts Alice Pratt Brown Hall hosts each year, making performance calendars for the Shepherd School, setting up room usage schedules and renting concert facilities to outside organizations. Among other things, Littman acted as a liaison between the Houston community and Shepherd School musicians.

"Making the Shepherd School look professional was what he dedicated himself to," Yekovich said. "He was a selfless employee that gave everything to the school."

Yekovich said that while Waters and Luca had both been ill for a time before their respective deaths, Littman's death came unexpectedly.

"His passing was completely unexpected," Yekovich said. "It has shaken the foundations of the school."

Ellison said that Littman often aided students, faculty and staff with an ease that belied the difficulty of his tasks, and that Littman was a major factor in the quality of the Shepherd School staff.

"Tom was a very well-rounded person, well-traveled, well-read, very well-educated, far beyond what he actually needed to complete his tasks at the Shepherd School and was a great person to have any kind of discussion with," Ellison said. "I always left his presence fulfilled and happy.

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