Everything Nac

The Texas State University Trio will present music for horn, violin and piano when the ensemble performs at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29, in Cole Concert Hall on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus.

The trio includes Texas State University School of Music faculty members Dr. Lynn Ledbetter, violin; Dr. William McNally, piano; and Dr. Caroline Steiger, horn. Their program will feature Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano by György Ligeti and Horn Trio, Op. 40 by Johannes Brahms, among other selections.

The Ligeti piece was written as a tribute to Brahms’ Trio for the same instrumentation, according to trio member Steiger.

“The work shares a similar four-movement structure and borrows from traditional formal structures,” Steiger said. “However, it employs a number of interesting techniques to create an entirely modern-sounding work.”

Composed in 1865 for the natural horn, violin and piano, the Brahms work is a staple repertoire piece for this type of chamber ensemble and has “inspired many great works to be written for the trio of horn, violin and piano,” Steiger said.

Ledbetter is professor of violin and coordinator of strings at Texas State University. She has served on the music faculties of Eastern New Mexico University, the College of Saint Scholastica, and the University of Southern Mississippi. She has performed and continues to concertize throughout the southwestern and Midwestern United States as a solo-recitalist. As a chamber musician, she has toured Canada, China, Europe, Mexico, and the United States with the Duo Paradox, the Madera Trio, the Freesia Duo and the Lyrian Duo.

Steiger is a member of the Emblems Woodwind Quintet, a Michigan-based quintet focused on performing new and underrepresented works. She has also performed with the Potsdam Brass Quintet, faculty quintet-in-residence at SUNY Potsdam. In 2015, she participated in a chamber music residency at the University of Michigan with New York Philharmonic principal winds. She is a member of the Mid-Texas Symphony and the Round Rock Symphony, and she has performed with the San Antonio Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra.

In 2013, McNally released a CD of works by Brahms, Reger and Busoni as part of the Victor Elmaleh Collection. He is the first three-time winner of the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest’s New Rag Contest and performs at ragtime festivals around the country.

The concert is a presentation of the SFA 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 Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre will present Christopher Durang’s full-length play “Baby with the Bathwater” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Oct. 28, in the Downstage Theatre on the SFA campus.

Directed by Center senior Avery Tindol, “Baby with the Bathwater” is a dark comedy about the struggles of both parenthood and childhood. It is recommended for mature audiences.

“When John and Helen bring home their newborn baby, it doesn’t take long for them to realize that parenting isn’t that simple,” Tindol explained. “Baby eventually grows up while facing the problems that most children experience throughout their lives.” Some of these problems include being kidnapped, almost being run over by busses on multiple occasions, and identity issues.

The cast includes Frisco sophomore Aubrey Moore as Helen; Lufkin senior Jacob Carr as John; Plano senior Cecily Maucieri as the Nanny; Burleson senior Paige Farley as Cynthia/Voice/Susan; Huffman junior Sidney Lowell as Kate/Miss Pringle; Dallas senior Madison Rey as Angela/Mrs. Willoughby; and Austin freshman Zach Loveday as A Young Man.

The production staff includes Madeline Collins, Sunnyvale senior, as stage manager; Katie Irwin, Arlington sophomore, assistant stage manager; Maggie Strain, Port Aransas senior, assistant director; Victoria Medrano, Edinburg senior, and Gretchen Wedel, co-scenic designers; Ernestro Dominguez, Legget senior, costume designer; Brittany Tennis, Hutto senior, lighting designer; Wyatt Gaubatz, Needville junior, sound designer; and Davis Gilmartin, Flower Mound sophomore, properties master.

Tindol’s acting credits at SFA include the characters of Banquo in “Macbeth,” Carthage Kilbride in “By the Bog of Cats,” and Mr. Antrobus in “The Skin of Our Teeth.” His directing credits include “Things That Go Bump in the Night” and “Picnic on the Battlefield.” He will also be the assistant director for SFA’s upcoming production of (Biedermann and) “The Firebugs.”

Faculty production advisor for “Baby with the Bathwater” is Stephanie Murphy.

The Downstage Theatre is located in the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive.

Tickets are $6. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit theatre.sfasu.edu.

The A Cappella Choir at Stephen F. Austin State University will present a collaborative program with the SFA School of Theatre and the Dance Program to perform music from around the world in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The program title, “Sing a New Song,” was selected to celebrate Dr. Michael Murphy’s first concert as the new director of choral activities at SFA. Murphy was named choral director following the retirement of Dr. Tim King this past summer.

Along with a variety of music selections from Germany, France, South Africa, Latvia, Russia and the U.S., the concert will feature poetry readings and dance, Murphy said.

Scott Shattuck, associate dean of the College of Fine Arts and professor of acting and directing, and Friends of Theatre member Rhonda Plymate Simmons will read poetry of Rumi, Hafiz, Yeats and Tagore, and students of Heather Samuelson, assistant professor, and Haley Hoss-Jameson, associate professor, Kinesiology and Health Science at SFA, will participate in concert selections with dance.

The program also features SFA string students, student percussionist Barry Martin, graduate student conductors Emily Bulling and Evelyn Shaffer, and Dr. Ron Petti, director of accompanying at SFA.

The 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.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs is hosting a religious panel discussion as part of its Brave Space Series from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Oct. 24 in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Regents’ Suite A.

“Religion is often difficult to discuss among diverse groups because of the lack of knowledge,” said Dr. Griselda Flores, SFA assistant director of OMA. “Many individuals do not learn the truth and facts behind religion and instead go on about their lives with misconceptions on world religion. Through this panel, we hope to answer questions and correct misbeliefs.”

Panelists include Kyle Childress, Aloma Marquis, Shyam Vyas and Habiba Awan and represent Baptist Christianity, Catholic Christianity, Hinduism and Islam.

The discussion is free and open to the SFA and Nacogdoches communities.

Each month, OMA’s Brave Space Series provides a forum for open and honest discussion concerning difficult topics.

By Kasi Dickerson, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Stephen F. Austin State University will host its fourth-annual Purple Premium Cattle Sale beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Walter C. Todd Agricultural Research Center.

The sale is planned and executed by SFA students enrolled in Dr. Erin Brown’s advanced beef science class.

Brown, professor of animal science in SFA’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, said students are instrumental in all aspects of the sale, from obtaining cattle consignments to sale marketing and setup.

This year, the sale will offer 30 purebred lots of Beefmaster, Angus, Charolais, Horned and Polled Hereford, Red Angus, and Simbrah cattle, as well as more than 200 head of commercial females. While a number of the lots are consigned by cattle owners from Texas and the Southern U.S., cattle from SFA’s herd also is included.

In addition to cattle being auctioned, attendees may bid on semen from high-quality bulls donated by several cattle breeders. A Nacogdoches get-away package that includes a one-night stay at The Fredonia Hotel with food and recreation accommodations also will be offered for bid.

Interested buyers may view the cattle from 2 to 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10, or beginning at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11. The SFA Beef Farm is located at the Walter C. Todd Agricultural Research Center on County Road 123 off of Highway 259 in Nacogdoches.

To learn more about the sale, visit the SFA Purple Premium Sale Facebook page, Instagram, or email Dr. Erin Brown at browneg@sfasu.edu.