Oconee Trio concert
Erin Semple
Issue date: 9/21/01 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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This concert is dedicated to Frances Hall, a local piano teacher and patron of the arts. She was a life-long learner and a former student of Gregory Pepetone, residence artist and professor of interdisciplinary studies at GC&SU.
"She was a curious, alert and vital student. She passed away recently and will be missed," said Pepetone. "This is a small way of paying a tribute to her."
This performance features three artists of international stature and experience from three different schools in the University System of Georgia. Levon Ambartsumian, a violinist from University of Georgia; Martha Gerschefski, a cellist from Georgia State University; and GC&SU’s own Dr. Gregory Peptone, a pianist, come together for a debut performance that includes three major works of Beethoven, Mozart and E.T.A. Hoffman.
"They are very good; Pepetone is incredible," said Kathy Tennille, secretary of the music and theatre department. "Sometimes I just stand outside his door and listen to him play."
Ambartsumian is the Franklin Professorship of Violin at UGA and is artistic director, conductor and soloist with the Arco Chamber Orchestra. He was formerly an instructor at Moscow’s prestigious Tchaikovsky Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1978. He has also regularly performed major violin repertoires in all of the main cities of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
Gerschefski was chosen as the American String Teachers Association Georgia Educator of the Year. Earlier in her career, she was picked by Leopold Stokowski to be the first woman to perform with the American Symphony Orchestra. She has a performer’s diploma from Julliard and has studied in Europe with the legendary Nadia Boulanger. She has performed all over Europe, the U.S., and Central America under the auspices of the State Department of Cultural Presentations Abroad.
"They are both outstanding musicians," said Pepetone.
Pepetone is an honors graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory. As a teen-ager, he performed for Leonard Bernstein at Carnegie Hall. Later in his career, he performed in London.
"...A pianist of refined taste and elegance," said Paul Griffith, a Times music critic, who saw his concert in London.
