Passion for collaboration.(2008 CONFERENCE ARTIST)(Interview)

Anne Epperson is passionate about collaborative piano, both as a performer and pedagogue. Starting with her position at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as the instrumental colleague in the program created there by John Wustman, she has built a reputation as one of the top-tier professors in the world. She has developed degree programs at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the University of California-Santa Barbara and the University of Colorado-Boulder. In addition to her affiliation with many summer music festivals, she created and developed the collaborative piano program at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara and was on that artist faculty from 1992 until 2006. Recently, Professor Epperson accepted a faculty position at the University of Texas-Austin to begin in fall 2008. B. Glenn Chandler, director of the School of Music, said "After we decided to take the path to create a new degree program in collaborative piano at UT, we wanted to establish instant credibility by hiring the best person in the country to lead that program. Anne Epperson's name came forward quickly, based on her work at other prestigious institutions. She was the unanimous choice of the search committee. Anne Epperson has impeccable musicianship, which is key to the success of the position. She has the ability to transfer information and skills to students and has a proven track record of developing quality programs."

Her soon-to-be colleague, internationally renowned pianist Anton Nel, said it best, "In addition to her extraordinary artistic and organizational skills, Anne is also a warm and collegial person: exactly what the School of Music needs as it is introducing these brand new programs. I have enjoyed working together with her on the many facets of her new position and keenly look forward to having her in our midst."

In a recent conversation, she elaborated on her training and her thoughts on collaborative pedagogy with Janice Wenger.

JW: What was your early training in music?

AE: I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and grew up in Baton Rouge. I began piano studies before my fourth birthday and was fortunate to have a good solid formative experience with a local private teacher Naomi Kennard Singleton, who, incidentally, incorporated sight reading as part of my lessons from the very beginning. As a high school student, I studied through the extension division at Louisiana State University with Earl Stout, a student of Leschetizky. I graduated from the National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C., and during my senior year there I had the opportunity to travel to New York and have coachings with Leonard Shure. As part of my undergraduate study, I spent two years at the Juilliard School in the studio of Sascha Gorodnitzki. As a reward for practicing my solo repertoire a lot, I accompanied my friends in recital. I realize now what amazing experiences I had at that time, including lessons on French art song in the studio of Jennie Tourel!

Few pianists ever mentioned accompanying at that time at Juilliard; it was not what pianists did. The distinguished collaborative program now fully developed at Juilliard under the leadership of Jonathan Feldman, Margo Garrett and Brian Zeger stands as a prime example of how far the awareness has come since I was a student there. I think of it as a papal blessing on the profession.

After a series of liberal arts explorations at various schools, I completed a bachelor of arts degree in music at the College of Notre Dame in Belmont, California. There I studied with Thomas LaRatta, a student of Rudolph Ganz and artist-in-residence at the College. LaRatta is one of the best teachers I ever worked with, and he is still teaching privately in California.