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The Percussion Studio at Stephen F. Austin State University and its director, Dr. Brad Meyer, will coordinate an interactive community performance of Phil Kline’s “Unsilent Night” starting at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, outside the Wright Music Building at 2210 Alumni Drive.

Participants will enjoy a 45-minute walk through the picturesque SFA campus while listening to a recording of “Unsilent Night” that has been downloaded to play over a smart device connected to portable speakers or to a CD played over a boom box.

Meyer encouraged community members to participate in the performance by following one of two steps:

• Download the app (https://itunes.apple.com/app/phil-klines-unsilent-night/id483509723?mt=8 or search “Phil Kline’s Unsilent Night” in your app store) and play it over a smart device by connecting it to a portable speaker.

• Download one of the four mp3 tracks from http://unsilentnight.com/participate and burn it to a CD that can be played over a boombox.

People can play the music from the app over their phone speaker, but this has a less-than-desirable sound quality and should only be used if the other options are not possible, Meyer said.

“If inclement weather occurs, the performance will be canceled,” he said. “To participate, simply be at the music building before 7:30 p.m. and have a way to play the ‘Unsilent Night’ music. Music players are not supplied by the host, so please plan on bringing your own music player.”

Joe Woodard of The Los Angeles Times described the “Unsilent Night” event as, “A dreamy fruitcake of parts, tranquil even through its anarchy.” And K. Leander Williams in Time Out New York said, “Kline’s luminous, shimmering wash of bell tones is one of the loveliest communal new-music experiences you’ll ever encounter, and it’s never the same twice.”

Meyer further defined it as a family-friendly event, with people often bringing their children with infants and toddlers in strollers.

“‘Unsilent Night’ has in fact become a holiday tradition for many families,” he said. “Some families have been doing it for 20 years, and their children have grown up walking ‘Unsilent Night.'”

For more information, go to http://unsilentnight.com, visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu or call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS.

The choirs at Stephen F. Austin State University, along with the Festival Orchestra, will present SFA’s traditional holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the university campus.

The highly anticipated “Christmas Celebration” concert will feature “Magnificat in D” by Johann Sebastian Bach and other seasonal favorites, according to Dr. Michael Murphy, director of choral activities for the SFA School of Music.

SFA’s A Cappella Choir, Women’s Choir and Choral Union, with Murphy and Dr. Tod Fish conducting, will be accompanied by the Festival Orchestra. Graduate guest conductors will be Emily Bulling and Evelyn Shaffer.

“Magnificat in D” will be performed by the A Cappella Choir and will feature School of Music voice faculty members Debbie Berry, Charlotte Davis, Scott LaGraff and Richard Leonberger, along with Houston graduate student Joshua Chavira.

The program also features Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” and a Christmas carol audience sing-a-long.

The concert is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Music. Turner Auditorium is located in the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive.

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 Office of Multicultural Affairs encourages the campus and Nacogdoches communities to submit community work projects for the eighth annual MLK Day of Service scheduled for Jan. 15.

The deadline to submit a project is Friday, Dec. 15. Volunteers are needed and can sign up to work now through the morning of the event.

“The purpose of the MLK Day of Service is to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy through volunteerism,” said Veronica Beavers, OMA director. “Although it may be a ‘day off’ for some, we like to think of it as a ‘day on’ to do service in the community.”

OMA staff members are always looking to expand projects and expect to grow the event’s participant base by working with SFA athletic teams and other organizations.

As part of this year’s day of service, SFA will partner with the Parks Advocacy League of Nacogdoches to assist with the upkeep of Robert McCrimmon Park as well as with Keep Nacogdoches Beautiful. Additionally, volunteers will help organize SFA’s Food for Thought food pantry’s inventory.

Other service projects will be conducted at public parks, private homes and a variety of other sites. Hundreds of student volunteers are expected to take part in projects such as painting and landscaping. Participants will receive a free lunch and event T-shirt.

People wanting to participate have several opportunities to do so.

“Community members wanting to get involved can submit projects for students to work on. Volunteers must be able to complete the project in four hours, and the major supplies needed to complete the project must be provided,” Beavers said. “Community, faculty and staff members also can sign up to be site mentors and assist the students with projects.”

Aloma Marquis, adjunct faculty in the SFA School of Art, will serve as the keynote speaker during the event’s opening ceremonies. She will speak at 11 a.m. Jan. 15 about King’s idea of transformation and how it is important for us to transform on an individual level in order to move forward as a community and nation.

“The purpose of the MLK Day of Service is to empower individuals, strengthen communities, bridge barriers and move us closer to Dr. King’s vision of a beloved community,” said Dr. Griselda Flores, OMA assistant director.

Congress passed legislation in 1983 to commemorate King’s life as a civil rights activist. In 1994, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which falls on the third Monday of January, was named a national day of service and is sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service and the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.

For more information, contact Beavers at (936) 468-1073, email oma@sfasu.edu, or visit sfasu.edu/oma.

By Christine Broussard, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Joshua Chavira, Houston graduate vocal performance student at Stephen F. Austin State University, traveled extensively this past summer to study Baroque singing at a prestigious and historic early music program in Urbino, Italy.

The program, Musica Antica, housed more than 400 participants, including dancers, instrumentalists and singers. Participants traveled from Japan, Russia, Jerusalem, France, Spain, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Italy to take part in the acclaimed program. Chavira was one of only four Americans to participate.

The two-week intense study is designed to help participants from different cultures and backgrounds “improve their knowledge and fulfill their love of the art of early music,” according to Chavira.

Chavira met and performed with talented musicians, studied with well-known professionals in the field and enjoyed traditional Italian cuisine.

“I was overwhelmed with the hospitality of the Italian culture, and the interactions I had with colleagues from all over the world gave me a far deeper understanding of what performing with passion truly means,” he said. “Being around like-minded musicians and beautiful culture for a full two weeks made the experience truly unforgettable.”

Chavira plans to return to Italy next summer to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Musica Antica and to continue his studies in early music.

To hear one of his performances, attend SFA’s annual choral holiday concert, “Christmas Celebration,” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus. For ticket information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

For more information on Chavira, contact him at joshuachavira@mail.com or (832) 492-6932.

The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and School of Music will present “A Night of Song,” featuring music faculty members Kayla Roth, Dr. Danny Chapa and Dr. J.D. Salas, at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 5, in the Music Recital Hall in Wright Music Building on the SFA campus.

The concert, which is part of the School of Music’s Calliope Series, will include German art songs, or lieder, from the Romantic era, or the mid to late 1800s.

“It was popular at the time for musically-inclined friends to get together to have liederabend, or a night of song, in which lieder would be performed in small, intimate settings,” explained Roth. “These songs were usually a collaboration between voice and piano.”

Chapa, low brass instructor, will perform on euphonium; Roth, music theory and ear-training instructor, will perform on piano; and Salas, associate professor of tuba and euphonium, will perform on tuba.

German works to be performed include “Feldeinsamkeit” by Johannes Brahms; “Ständchen” by Franz Schubert; “Das Wandern” by Schubert; variations by Danny Chapa; “Heidenröslein” by Schubert, variations by Roth; “Die Erlkönig” and “An die Musik” by Schubert; “Zueignung” by Richard Strauss; “Morgen!” by Strauss, arranged by Roth and featuring Salas; and “Im wunderschönen Monat Mai” and “Ich grolle nicht” by Robert Schumann.

Schubert’s “Die Erlkönig” is one of the most well known German art songs, according to Roth. Based on a poem by Johann von Goethe, the song tells the story of a father and his ailing son, riding on horseback to their home. The son, sick with fever, insists that the Elf King (die Erlkö nig) is trying to attack him.

“It is an interesting piece for both performers; the vocalist must sing as the narrator, father, son and Erlköing, while the pianist must imitate the sound of horse hooves with incessant triplets,” Roth said. “To emulate the different characters’ voices, Dr. Chapa will use multiple instruments.”

The recital will also feature selections from Schumann’s “Dichterliebe,” considered to be his most well known song cycle, consisting of 16 settings of poems by Heinrich Heine. Along with Schubert, Schumann is one of the leading figures in the genre, Roth said.

“‘Dichterliebe’ was written in 1840, Schumann’s ‘year of song,’ in which he wrote over 100 songs in response to his long and arduous courtship of his future wife, Clara Wieck,” Roth explained. “We will be performing ‘Im wunderschönen Monat Mai’ and ‘Ich grolle nicht’ from this cycle.”

Based on a poem by Hermann von Gilm. “Zueignung,” roughly translated as “dedication” or “devotion,” is one of the first songs published by Strauss and remains one of his best-known pieces. Like much of Strauss’ music, it is rich in thick, closely scored harmonies and chromaticism, Roth said.

“Our goal in this recital is to take the most well-known lieder and perform it in a different way, namely that the vocal melodies will be played on low brass instruments,” she said. “We will perform two themes and variations.”

Chapa has composed variations on Schubert’s “Das Wandern,” showcasing his technical skill, and Roth has a set of music parodies on Schubert’s “Heidenröslein,” each variation an imitation of a particular composer.

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.