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Sept. 26, 2005

Visiting Trio Offers Free Music Recital at ULM

Music patrons will have the opportunity to enjoy a free performance from the visiting Oxford Piano Trio of Ole Miss at a recital on Thursday, September 29, at 7:30 p.m. The concert will be at the Biedenharn Recital Hall on the University of Louisiana at Monroe campus.

The Oxford Piano Trio, in residence at the University of Mississippi, is composed of Ole Miss faculty members Stacy Rodgers (piano), Robert Riggs (violin) and Susan Gaston (cello). Their recitals offer music for every taste, including classic repertoire, newly composed works and music influenced by jazz, blues, tango, or salsa. Featured on the Mississippi Arts Commission's Touring Artists Roster, they have been heard by audiences throughout the Southeastern United States, Germany and Canada.

The guest trio will perform Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 11 by Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827), Primavera Porteña by Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) and Trio in F minor, Op. 65 by Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904).

Robert Riggs is Associate Professor of Violin and Music History at the University of Mississippi. He earned B.M. and M.M. degrees from the University of New Mexico and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard. He has studied with Kurt Frederick, Leonard Felberg, Dorothy DeLay, and Emanuel Borok. His experience includes 15 years as a professional orchestral and chamber musician in Boston and Germany. Riggs served on the New England Conservatory music history faculty, presented papers on Mozart and Beethoven at national conferences and edited a book on the string quartets of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven for Harvard University Press.

Susan Gaston, originally from Charlottesville, Virginia, is currently Adjunct Professor of Violoncello at the University of Mississippi. She holds the B.A. degree from Duke University and the M.M. in Performance from the University of Arizona. For eight years, Gaston was Assistant Professor of Music at McNeese State University in Lake Charles. Ms. Gaston has extensive experience as an orchestral cellist, having performed with the Tucson, Lake Charles, Rapides and Beaumont Symphony Orchestras. She also has a distinguished record in chamber music, performing with the Tucson Symphony Quartet, Tucson Chamber Music Co-Op, Catalina Quartet, McNeese Faculty Trio, and the Calcasieu String Quartet. In 1990, Gaston moved to Oxford with her son Bryan and husband Gary, a biologist at the University of Mississippi. She performs frequently with the Tupelo Symphony and is co-founder of the Sarah Isom Trio.

Stacy Rodgers is Professor of Music and Head of Keyboard Studies and Accompanying at the University of Mississippi. A Texas native, he holds degrees from Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas at Austin. Major teachers in performance and pedagogy include Lita Guerra, Jean Barr, Amanda Vick Lethco, Harris Crohn, Louise Bianchi, and David Karp. In addition to his regular teaching duties, Rodgers is active in pedagogical research, teacher training and pre-college piano instruction. He also heads the University of Mississippi's Community Music School. As a solo pianist, accompanist and chamber musician, he performs more than 30 concerts annually throughout the South.

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