Shepard is the composer of five musicals and five operas, among other pieces. The operas include "That Pig of a Molette" (1988) and "A Question of Faith" (1990), both with libretti by Sheldon Harnick, which were presented as a double-bill under the title "Love in Two Countries" at St. Peter's Church Theatre, in New York City, by Musical Theater Works in 1991; and a score for the lost music of "Thespis" (2008), which has been called "a love letter to [Gilbert and Sullivan] and ... might be better than the original". In 1971, he composed the motion picture score for "Such Good Friends", directed by Otto Preminger, and in 1974, he wrote a children's cantata, "In the Night Kitchen", with words by Maurice Sendak. He also composed the piano folio "Folk a la Classique" for Carl Fischer Music (2003; original compositions for children) and was the composer and lyricist for children's educational material for the Carnegie Hall Explorers Division, "The Children’s Symphony" (2004, intended to teach the instruments of the orchestra to second-and third-grade schoolchildren) and for the PBS television show "Between the Lions" (2007).