Everything Nac

The Snow Pond Saxophone Quartet will perform a guest chamber recital at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, in Cole Concert Hall on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University.

Formed in 2016 by world-renowned saxophonist and pedagogue Dr. Fredrick L. Hemke, Snow Pond Saxophone Quartet is dedicated to continuing the legacy of Hemke’s life work of music making and saxophone performance. Quartet members are Yoko Kusaka, Maho Kuroda, Jack Thorpe and Kyle White, who have all studied with Hemke at the Fredrick L. Hemke Saxophone Institute at Snow Pond Music Festival in Sidney, Maine.

Thorpe is a graduate student in the SFA School of Music.

The SFA performance is a continuation of the quartet’s celebration of Hemke, former professor of saxophone at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, and “his unmatched influence on American and Japanese saxophone performance and pedagogy,” according to Thorpe.

“This recital theme reflects this mission,” Thorpe writes. “All of the music on the program was written by American or Japanese composers or was inspired by American and Japanese culture. This recital is a part of the Snow Pond Saxophone Quartet’s second tour, and the quartet hopes to continue strengthening the relationship between American and Japanese saxophonists.”

In 2017, SPSQ performed throughout Japan alongside acclaimed saxophonist Masato Kumoi.

“Snow Pond Saxophone Quartet is excited to be presenting a recital at SFA,” Thorpe said. “We will be performing works by Kechley, Kushida, Dvořák, Mihira and Mellits.”

Antonín Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96 is nicknamed his “American Quartet” because it was written while he was in the United States and is inspired by his time in America. The quartet was arranged by Hemke and has become a popular transcription in the saxophone quartet repertoire.

This recital includes the premiere of a new arrangement of Noriko Mihira’s “Kariboshikiriuta Fantasy.” Mihira arranged this new version for the Snow Pond Saxophone Quartet’s American tour.
Marc Mellits is a popular American composer who has written a number of works for the saxophone. His “Ex Machina” was written in 2016 and utilizes Mellits’ groove-based minimalistic style.

Recital tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music will present a flute and piano recital when guest artists Meghan Bennett and Maria Lyapkova perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 28, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

Bennett is adjunct instructor of flute at Prairie View A&M University, and Lyapkova is a teaching assistant at The University of Texas in Austin.

Their program features “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” by Christoph Willibald Gluck; Sonata for Flute and Piano by Anatoly Samonov; Black Anemones for Flute and Piano by Joseph Schwantner; and Sonata for Flute and Piano by Yuko Uebayashi.

Bennett leads a diverse career as an educator and solo, chamber and orchestral musician. Most recently, she was guest soloist with Chamber Music International in Dallas, joined the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players on tour, and was flutist with Spotlight on Opera in Austin. She has performed with the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra, Waco Symphony Orchestra, Round Rock Symphony and the Palmetto Opera Orchestra.

Bennett is a founding member of both Prismatx Ensemble, a contemporary music ensemble based in Austin, and Li5ten quintet, 2017 quarterfinalists at the Fischoff Competition, and she is a recipient of the Chamber Music Residency Fellowship at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. She is also a member of Emissary Quartet, whose 2016-17 season highlights included an invitation to perform and present a workshop at the Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention and a week-long residency in Seattle, Washington.

Lyapkova has appeared at top festivals including the Aspen Music Festival and School and the National Music Festival in the United States, Spotlight on Young Musicians in France, and the Primavera Classica in Russia. Prior to her duties at U.T.-Austin, she was a full-time staff accompanist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and instructed chamber music, piano ensemble class and piano accompaniment at the University of South Florida.

The SFA concert is a joint presentation of the College of Fine Arts and School of Music. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, Stephen F. Austin State University’s historic downtown art gallery, will be open regular hours during spring break.

An encore screening of the film “Koo-Hoot Kiwat: The Caddo Grass House” will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 24, in Cole Art Center. In the PBS film, which is directed by Curtis Craven, a Caddo tribal elder and his apprentice return to their ancestral homeland in East Texas to direct the construction of a traditional grass house.

Showing in Cole Art Center are the exhibitions “Caddo Contemporary: Present and Relevant” and “Frank Dituri: Il Sacro.” (The Sacred).

Featuring ceramics, paintings, beadwork, stonework and drawings, “Caddo Contemporary” is a collaborative presentation of the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art and Art Galleries and the Caddo Mound Historic Site in Alto. The exhibition highlights the work of seven Caddo Nation artisans, including Wayne Earles, Chad Earles, Chase Earles, Raven Halfmoon, Yonavea Hawkins, Jeri Redcorn and Thompson Williams. The show closes March 24.

Only a few days remain to see “Frank Dituri: Il Sacro.” (The Sacred), which includes photographs the artist took in Italy over the past few years. The show closes Sunday, March 17.

The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. Regular hours are from 12:30 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Griffith Gallery in the Griffith Fine Arts Building on the SFA campus will be closed during spring break and will reopen Tuesday, March 26.

All events and exhibitions are free to the public.

For more information, contact the gallery director at (936) 468-1131 or the Cole Art Center front desk at (936) 468-5500.