Everything Nac

Pianist Dr. Daniel Milan will present a solo guest recital featuring works by Franz Josef Haydn, Frédéric Chopin, Dinu Lipatti and Alexander Scriabin when he performs at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2, in Cole Concert Hall on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus.

Milan describes the program as containing a number of “personal bucket-list pieces.”

“That said, there is some symmetry in the way that the first half and second half of the recital both end in pieces of similar length in F-sharp major,” Milan explains. “What’s more, the program heavily features the compositions of Romanian pianist Dinu Lipatti.”

Although famously known for his outstanding career as a concert pianist and recording artist, Lipatti’s untimely death at age 33 of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in tandem with his fame as a performer overshadowed his prolific compositional output, according to Milan.

Also connected to the F-sharp symmetry is Lipatti’s “Nocturne” in F-sharp minor, following shortly after Chopin’s “Barcarolle” in F-sharp major. Chopin is a composer of whom Lipatti was well known to perform and record. Milan’s program also features a variety of different keyboard sonatas and character pieces. Works include Lipatti’s Sonatina for Left Hand; Haydn’s Sonata in C minor; and Scriabin’s Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp major.

Haydn’s sonata features “some of the first obvious innovations of the new pianoforte instrument that Haydn utilizes in his frequent and distinctive dynamic markings,” according to Milan.

In Sonatina for Left Hand, Lipatti “follows the very traditional fast-slow-fast movement scheme like that found in the Haydn, but with a diverse and even folk-like tonal language that includes both functional and non-functional harmonies and progressions,” Milan explains.

Milan is assistant professor of piano and piano pedagogy at Texas Woman’s University in Denton. He has performed in venues across the world including Maccagno, Italy; the Esterhazy Palace in Eisenstadt, Austria; the University of Transylvania in Brașov, România; the George Enescu Museum in Bucharest, România; and he was featured in a competition showcase recital at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Milan has performed in masterclasses with esteemed artist faculty of the Eastman School of Music, the Juilliard School of Music and Berklee College of Music. During his undergraduate studies at Kent State University, he also opened for the Count Basie Band at Elmhurst College in Illinois with the Kent State Jazz Ensemble.

In addition to his career as a classical musician, Milan is also an independent pop recording artist and composer. Since 2007, he has written, recorded and independently released eight original albums of music: five alternative pop albums, one live acoustic album, and a classical album of original compositions for solo piano, additionally including one work for small orchestra.

Cole Concert Hall is located in the Wright Music Building, 2210 Alumni Drive. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. To purchase tickets, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit sfasu.edu/boxoffice. For additional information, contact the SFA School of Music at (936) 468-4602.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art and the Friends of the Visual Arts will present a free, one-night screening of the film “Selma,” written by Paul Webb and directed by Ava DuVernay, at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2, at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House.

Selected to celebrate February as Black History Month, “Selma” chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965 when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, culminated in President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Director Ava DuVernay’s “Selma” tells the story of how the revered leader and visionary and his brothers and sisters in the movement prompted change that forever altered history, according to information at https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1020072/.

The film is Rated PG-13 for “disturbing thematic material including violence, a suggestive moment and brief strong language,” according to imdb.

The School of Art’s Friday Night Film Series is sponsored in part by filmmaking Professor William Arscott. The Cole Art Center, SFA’s historic downtown gallery, is located at 329 E. Main St. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.

The Doctor of Education in educational leadership program offered through Stephen F. Austin State University’s James I. Perkins College of Education has joined the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate, a consortium of over 125 colleges and schools of education that have committed to critically examine the doctoral degree in education.

“Through collaborative efforts, CPED member institutions work together to share best practices, engage in research, and advocate for the transformation of doctoral education in the field of education,” said Dr. Summer Pannell, associate professor and coordinator for SFA’s educational leadership program. “This will help us produce graduates who are well-prepared to address complex educational challenges and contribute to positive change in educational organizations and systems.”

Established in 2007, CPED aims to redesign professional practice preparation in education at the doctoral level. After receiving an invitation to join, SFA’s educational leadership faculty members completed a vigorous application and interview process to become a CPED member. The educational leadership faculty who worked together on this project include Pannell and educational leadership faculty members Dr. Brian Uriegas, Dr. Barbara Qualls and Dr. Ali Hachem, all SFA associate professors of human services and educational leadership.

SFA began the partnership in early October, when CPED members convened in Pensacola, Florida, to collaborate with other CPED institutions to explore various models and implementation strategies to fit the project’s standards and principles.

“CPED’s main focus is on reimagining the Doctor of Education degree to better align it with the needs and challenges of professional practice in educational settings,” Pannell said. “This focus on the Doctorate of Education as a professional degree aligns with our goal to become a premier doctoral program in the state of Texas and nationwide.”

CPED membership provides faculty members at affiliated institutions access to a professional learning community, support and resources to redesign and enhance the educational leadership program, the integration of research and scholarship into professional practice preparation, and a platform for collective advocacy for the transformation of doctoral education.

“Membership can provide valuable opportunities for collaboration, learning and improvement that can enhance the quality and effectiveness of our Doctorate in Education program,” Pannell said. “We will have the opportunity to engage with a community of like-minded institutions and work together toward advancing the field of educational leadership and practice.”

To align with CPED’s standards, the program will begin this spring semester to audit courses and curriculum to identify where changes might be beneficial. Changes to adhere to CPED’s goals include refocusing on scholarly practitioner preparation, incorporating a commitment to social justice and ethical practice in education, strengthening partnerships with other schools and districts, and exploring alternative assessment practices. Revisions will be applied strategically to ensure the least amount of disruption to the program’s current students and maintain the integrity of the program as it is currently designed.

For more information about the doctorate, visit gosfa.com/47vKiCD.

ABOUT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

Stephen F. Austin State University, the newest member of The University of Texas System, began a century ago as a teachers’ college in Texas’ oldest town, Nacogdoches. Today, it has grown into a regional institution comprising six colleges — business, education, fine arts, forestry and agriculture, liberal and applied arts, and sciences and mathematics. Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, SFA enrolls approximately 11,000 students while providing the academic breadth of a state university with the personalized attention of a private school. The main campus encompasses 421 acres that include 37 academic facilities, nine residence halls, and 68 acres of recreational trails that wind through its six gardens. The university offers more than 80 bachelor’s degrees, more than 40 master’s degrees and four doctoral degrees covering more than 120 areas of study. Learn more at sfasu.edu.

By Parastoo Nikravesh, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University