Everything Nac

The Chloé Trevor Music Academy has announced its first Summer Festival of Concerts to be held in Nacogdoches beginning July 29 through Aug. 11.

The Chloé Trevor Music Academy is an intensive two-week program for 100 string players and pianists, offering one-on-one instruction, orchestral training and career guidance by the world’s premier soloists, teachers and conductors, according to Trevor, the academy’s artistic director and founder. The academy and its concert series will be held on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University.

“I am thrilled to be at SFA for the inaugural academy,” Trevor said in a press release. “It has always been a dream of mine to open a summer music school that is accessible to students world-wide. I have tried to make the tuition costs reasonable so that, together with our scholarship program, any student should be able to attend if they have the interest.

“We are excited to have so many students coming from across the globe, including from France, Brazil, Mexico, Finland, Indonesia, Canada and the U.S.,” she added. “I have also enjoyed being able to ask some of my closest friends to be our visiting faculty and guest soloists. I am hoping, that, as a Texan myself, East Texas will get excited by this new classical music adventure and come to as many performances as possible. At these concerts, audiences will witness the future of classical music in the brightest and best of today’s young musicians.”

The two-week series of public concerts by the academy’s faculty and guest artists offers a wide range of performances, including the Aeolus Quartet, violinist Chee-Yun, pianists Christopher O’Riley and David Korevaar, and Trevor.

The festival concerts begin on July 29 with violinist Trevor and pianist Jonathan Tsay presenting the opening recital at 7 p.m. in Cole Concert Hall. The series continues with pianist Korevaar performing on July 30 and the Aeolus String Quartet on Aug. 2. The academy faculty will present a program on Aug. 3, and on Aug. 6, O’Riley, widely known for his National Public Radio program “From the Top,” will perform a crossover concert of classical works and his own beautiful solo arrangements of the experimental rock-band Radiohead.

The Academy Fellowship Ensemble will present a concert on Aug. 8. International violin soloist Chee-Yun will perform a recital of works by Stravinsky, Saint-Saens and Piazzolla on Aug. 9, and the Academy Chamber Music recital will be held on Aug. 10. To close the series, the academy will showcase its combined orchestra featuring all 100 participants and guest soloists performing works by Vivaldi, Grieg, Rimsky-Korsakov and Louis Prima on Aug. 11.

All concerts begin at 7 p.m. and will be held in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

Tickets are $10 per concert and will be available at the door. Students will be given free admission. For patrons wishing to purchase more than one concert ticket, a season pass will be available at the door for $50.

For further information, visit http://www.chloetrevormusicacademy.org.

Stephen F. Austin State University will hold a public ribbon cutting for the Ed and Gwen Cole STEM Building at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Designed to foster collaboration and innovation, the STEM Building boasts a planetarium with a 52-foot dome, makerspaces and multipurpose labs. The facility also features a machine shop, a digital media center, computer labs, research labs, collaborative classrooms and a terrace with telescopes.

“The outside of the building will ‘speak’ science, technology, engineering and mathematics with displays and features that reflect the hands-on and inquiry-based learning opportunities that will take place inside,” said Dr. Kimberly Childs, dean of the College of Sciences and Mathematics. “SFA students of all majors will benefit from the educational opportunities offered within the STEM Building and will be immersed in a high-tech environment with state-of-the-art instrumentation and equipment.”

The SFA Board of Regents broke ground in 2016 after the 84th Texas Legislature granted the university approximately $46.4 million in tuition revenue bond funding. Named for Ed Cole and his wife, the late Gwen Cole, supporters of numerous SFA programs, the STEM building also houses a three-story glass atrium named for the late regent Barry Nelson, former chair of the Building and Grounds committee, for his integral role in the planning phase of the building.

Responding to a national call for STEM reform, SFA began to implement activities, courses and outreach initiatives with the aim of encouraging students to develop a greater interest in STEM.

“A vibrant science, technology, engineering and mathematics workforce is vital to America’s innovative capacity and global competitiveness,” Childs said. “With the addition of the STEM Building, SFA is perfectly positioned to lead this charge across the East Texas region and to have an explosive impact in Texas.”

To learn more about SFA’s STEM program, visit sfasu.edu/academics/colleges/sciences-math.

By Joanna Armstrong, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

East Texas audiences have only two more chances to see ‘Pinkalicious the Musical’ presented by the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre in its SummerStage Festival. The children’s show, featuring, from left, theatre students Kaitlyn Kirby, James Burns, E.J. Villanueva, Crayten Clendion, Kiara Hawkins, Shane Reynolds and Miriam Newman, will be presented at 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 18, and 10 a.m. Thursday, July 19, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus. “Pinkalicious the Musical” is by Elizabeth Kann and Victoria Kann with music by John Gregor. Call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit finearts.sfasu.edu for ticketing information.