By Staff
special to The Star
April 14, 2002
The Oxford Piano Trio, in residence at the University of Mississippi, will be the guest at the next St. Paul's Chamber Series.
The event will be Thursday at 12:05 p.m. in the Parish Hall of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
The Oxford Piano Trio has been performing the great works of the piano trio literature since the group's inception in 1988. The two original members Robert Riggs, violinist, and Stacy Rodgers, pianist were joined in 1998 by a new member, cellist Susan Gaston.
Riggs is associate professor of violin and music history in the Department of Music at the University of Mississippi. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of New Mexico, and master's and doctorate degrees from Harvard.
He has studied with Kurt Frederick, Leonard Felberg, Dorothy DeLay and Emanuel Borok.
Riggs' experience includes 15 years as a professional orchestral and chamber musician in Boston and Germany. He has 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.
Gaston from Charlottesville, Va., is currently adjunct professor of violoncello at the University of Mississippi. She holds a bachelor's degree from Duke University and a master's in performance from the University of Arizona.
For eight years, she was assistant professor of music at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La. 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 husband Gary, a biologist on the University of Mississippi faculty, and her son, Brian. She performs frequently with the Tupelo Symphony and is co-founder of the Sarah Isom Trio.
Rodgers is associate professor 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.
In addition to his regular teaching duties, Rodgers is active in pedagogical research and teacher training and heads the University of Mississippi's Community Music School.
He is a founding member of the Oxford Piano Trio, and performs extensively in piano duo with his wife, Diane Wang.
Both ensembles are featured on the Mississippi Arts Commission's Artist Roster. As a solo pianist, accompanist and chamber musician, he performs more than 30 concerts annually throughout the United States.
The concert is free and open to the public. The church is at 1116 23rd Ave.