Oleg Moston, dance accompanist

Oleg Moston, accompanist in the College's Dance Department, died Monday, Jan. 3, 2011, of injuries sustained in a pedestrian accident on Interstate 87. He was 77 years old.

Born March 11, 1933 in Ukraine, Oleg started to play the piano at the age of 14, while residing in the former Soviet Union. He graduated in 1957 from the Moscow Conservatory and toured for more than two decades throughout the U.S.S.R. with the Moscow Philharmonic Society, performing as pianist, soloist, and accompanist.

In 1979, he and his family settled in New York City, where he played for 26 years as a principal pianist for such ballet companies as the Joffrey, Alvin Ailey, and American Ballet Theater, as well as for Columbia and New York universities, the New York Conservatory of Dance, Ballet Hispanico, and Ballet Academy East.

The family moved upstate, and Oleg worked as an accompanist with the Glens Falls Ballet and Dance Center. In 2005 he joined the Skidmore faculty as an accompanist in the Dance Department. Denise Warner Limoli, associate professor who frequently taught with Oleg, called him "a master musician. His music was always beautiful. The dancers loved him. I loved him. He loved ballet."

She added, "With him as an accompanist, it was as if there were two teachers in the classroom. He helped to educate the students on the type of music that they needed to know as dancers, but for him it was like breathing."

According to Denise, Oleg was her willing partner in helping the dance students recognize the importance of performing with a live (not recorded) musician. "He would open the lid of the piano, and we asked the students to gather around the instrument and put their hands onto the strings while Oleg played. This helped them to feel the power of the music and to recognize that music must be performed by an artist before it is recorded onto CDs or MP3 files," she said.

Professor Debra Fernandez, dance department chair, remembered Oleg once saying that he played many places in New York, but "he always said that he loved his Skidmore experience most. We will miss our good friend and fellow artist."

Oleg's survivors include his wife, Nina; daughter, Oksana (Yuri) Naumkin of Gansevoort; sons, Maxim of Brooklyn and Ilya of Atlanta; and grandchildren, Peter Naumkin and Gertrude Moston. Oleg was predeceased by grandson Nicholas Naumkin, who was killed Dec. 22 in a shooting accident in Wilton, N.Y.

Services for Oleg are scheduledat 12:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7, in the Skidmore Dance Theater. A reception will follow. Family and friends may call at the Dance Theater from 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., prior to the services.

Memorial donations may be made to the Oleg Moston memorial fund, c/o Glens Falls National Bank, 250 Glen St., Glens Falls, N.Y., 12804, or at any branch of the bank. 

Arrangements are under the direction of Tunison Funeral Home, 105 Lake Ave., Saratoga Springs, N.Y.