Eugenia L Epperson

Eugenia “Genie” Louise Epperson was nothing short of accomplished in the concert hall, in her Southern kitchen, and as a single parent who modeled the importance of selflessness and living life with joyful intention.

As a professional flutist, she performed in top venues worldwide alongside famed musicians. At home, she hosted weekend crawfish boils and relished visits to Cedar Point Amusement Park with her son, Bryce, where they would ride roller coasters together until the sun went down. She always put others first, even when she had little to give.

Genie passed away of heart failure on July 11 after a decades-long battle with degenerative disc disease and chronic pain. She was 70.

The youngest of two daughters, Genie was born on August 10, 1949 in Baton Rouge to William Carson and Louise Guedry Epperson. Her parents introduced her and her sister, Anne, to the piano at a young age, and Genie’s talent for music was evident.

Genie transitioned to playing the flute, later playing the flute in college at Louisiana State University as part of the Tiger Band. She studied flute with both Jeanne Timm and Everett Timm at LSU and continued her studies at the New England Conservatory with renowned pedagogue James Pappoutsakis.

She held Principal Flute positions with Texas Chamber Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet Orchestras. In 1983, she appeared as duo partner with legendary flutist James Galway in a performance of Cimarosa's Concerto for Two Flutes and Orchestra with the Texas Chamber Orchestra. She was a founding member of the TCO. In addition, she served as Acting Associate Principal Flute with the Houston Symphony and performed with the orchestra in Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

In the late 1980s, she transitioned into arts management. It was a demanding, detail-oriented and sometimes thankless but rewarding field where she could utilize her performance experience while helping other musicians. In 1988, she became Assistant Manager of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. In 1990, she was named Executive Director of the Ohio Chamber Orchestra in Cleveland, OH. After successfully serving in that position, she moved to New Hampshire in 1994 to become Executive Director of the North Country Chamber Players.

A final move in the arts administration field in 1998 took her back to Baton Rouge, where she served as Executive Director of the Baton Rouge Symphony until 2001.

In the early 2000s, she moved to Arizona to be closer to her son, who was living in Tucson and starting up a Cajun-style restaurant called The French Quarter. Summoning her Creole roots, she developed a gumbo recipe that went on to win awards and is still served in her son’s restaurant, The Parish, today. She helped create other authentic recipes for The French Quarter, including jambalaya, red beans and rice, and crawfish etouffee.

In Tucson, she worked for the Tucson Jazz Society and the Tucson Symphony. She enjoyed cheering on the LSU Tigers and spending time with her 4-year-old granddaughter, Carsen, and her two cats, Sprout and Snickers.

Genie is survived by her son, Bryce Zeagler, his wife, Jennifer and their daughter Carsen of Tucson, AZ; her sister, Anne Epperson in Bloomington, Indiana; her cat, Snickers; and

countless friends and relatives from coast to coast. Visitors are encouraged to leave notes/memories. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her memory to Best Friends Animal Society (bestfriends.org), Tucson Summer Music (tucsonsummermusic.com/donate) or Arts for All, Inc. (artsforallinc.org/support)