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The Contemporary Guitar Ensemble at Stephen F. Austin State University will perform the music of American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter Jimi Hendrix in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The ensemble features students in the SFA School of Music’s Sound Recording Technology program and includes Gavan Maners of Rockwall, Nelson Privette of Winnsboro, Wesley Cortiaus of Friendswood and Kevin Montano of Pasadena on guitar, Austin Gehring of Missouri City on bass, Matthew Coronado of Irving on drums and Josiah Fling of Eagle Lake, vocals. Joining the ensemble as a guest artist is Lily Reyes of McKinney, vocals and percussion.

The concert will consist of all Hendrix music arranged for guitar quartet accompanied by a rhythm section consisting of drums and bass and fronted by two vocalists, according to Andrew Sperandeo, guitar instructor in the SRT program.

“Being a musician, especially for a guitar player, it is impossible to not to hear and see the influence of Jimi’s playing and persona in so many other great artists and in so many genres over the years,” Sperandeo said. “I deemed it pivotal that these young musicians get well acquainted as to why this is the case.”

The program includes “Little Wing,” one of Hendrix’s most popular songs. It has become a standard, with interpretations, recorded by musicians in a variety of styles, Sperandeo said. It is ranked number 366 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”

“Crosstown Traffic” refers to Manhattan’s traffic between the east and west sides, infamously known for its thick congestion. “With its hard rock riff, the song is an example and mixture of blues and acid rock,” Sperandeo said.

The concert also features “The Wind Cries Mary,” one of Sperandeo’s personal favorite tunes by Hendrix. “My buddies and I used to love covering this tune in our teenage years,” he said, “so of course, it was the first tune I arranged for this set.”

The purpose for the guitar ensemble is to have guitar students experience the many different functions of their instrument, Sperandeo said. For example, many of the parts are written in horn section format similar to a big band where they play harmonized melodies, solis, etc. Students are also required to utilize different effects throughout the arrangements, “painting a certain sonic landscape,” he added.

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 College of Fine Arts at Stephen F. Austin State University will present soprano Ava Pine in concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14, in W.M. Turner Auditorium as part of the 2015-2016 University Series.

A native of Texas, Pine continues to dazzle audiences and critics with her rewarding vocalism and compelling commitment to character, creating vivid and captivating portraits on stage, according to Dr. John W. Goodall, associate dean of the College of Fine Arts and director of the series.

“Equally at home with opera, oratorio or recital, and accomplished in works ranging from baroque to contemporary, she brings great vocal and dramatic range to her work,” Goodall said. “We’re looking forward to a beautiful performance and the perfect conclusion to this year’s University Series.”

The Texas Christian University alumna has headlined on opera stages from Fort Worth to Florence, Italy. She was a Grammy nominee for Best Opera Recording 2011 for her work in a period instrument recording with Ars Lyrica of Houston. Highlights from the concert stage include frequent re-engagements with the Dallas Symphony, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Austin Symphony.

Prior to the performance, Dr. Chris Turner, assistant professor of voice at SFA, will give a 7 p.m. informative talk about Pine and her music in Griffith Gallery. The gallery is located across the hall from Turner Auditorium, which is located in the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive. Following the performance, the audience is invited back to the gallery for a post-performance reception to meet Pine and honor the event’s corporate sponsor, Cataract, Glaucoma & Retina Consultants of East Texas/Benchmark Optical.

Single event ticket prices are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and $10 for students/youth. SFA students may purchase Rush tickets for $3 during regular office hours starting Monday, April 11. Students must present a valid SFA ID for purchase and at the door on event night.

For tickets or more information, visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu or call the Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS.

The Stephen F. Austin State University Wind Ensemble will present the concert “Luminosity: Tributes to Light and Shadow” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.

Featured on the concert will be the music of composers Steven Bryant, Darius Milhaud, Joseph Schwantner and Alexander Scriabin, who was famous for his study of the relationship between light, color and sound, according to Dr. David Campo, associate director of bands at SFA and the ensemble’s conductor.

The concert will open with Bryant’s “In This Broad Earth,” a short, intense fanfare commissioned by Michigan State University. Bryant based the fanfare on Walt Whitman’s poem “Song of the Universal” from his collection “Leaves of Grass.”

Later in his life, Scriabin’s compositions would reflect his obsession with the phenomenon known as synesthesia, Campo explained. His Prelude and Nocturne, Op. 9, which is on the program, highlights the contrasts of light and shadow inherent in the piano.

“Scriabin composed this work for left hand alone at piano after he injured his right hand attempting to master Chopin on the instrument,” Campo said. Transcribed for band by Alfred Reed, Nocturne, Op. 9 No. 2 showcases the wind band’s sonic light and shadow.

The first half of the concert concludes with Milhaud’s “Suite Francaise,” a statement by the composer of the darkness of war contrasted with the bright light of freedom and democracy, Campo said.

The concert will conclude with Schwantner’s “Luminosity: Concerto for Wind Orchestra.”

“SFA was part of the consortium that commissioned this seminal work from this modern master,” Campo said.

Numerous distinctions and awards have marked Schwantner’s compositional career. In 1979, his orchestral composition “Aftertones of Infinity” won the Pulitzer Prize.

“Schwantner has written several works for wind ensemble and is widely recognized as a modern American master of the genre,” Campo said. “Cast in three movements, ‘Luminosity’ is bookended by material that exploits the wind, brass and percussion sections, with a mini-concerto for solo clarinet at its center.”

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 College of Fine Arts and the Children’s Performing Arts Series will present two performances of “Rumpelstiltskin” on Friday, April 15.

Presented by The Panto Company USA, “Rumpelstiltskin” targets children in prekindergarten through third grade, according to Diane J. Peterson, Fine Arts Box Office manager and director of the children’s series.

“The Panto Company USA spins this classic tale into a golden show for children of all ages, filled with songs and amazing audience participation,” she said.

The story is about Daisy, who can spin gold from straw. A greedy king locks her in a stable and demands that she turn all the straw into gold. Daisy appears doomed until a strange little man, Rumpelstiltskin, appears and promises to spin the straw into gold in return for her necklace. The king is delighted but locks her up again – wanting twice as much straw to spin. Will the magical Rumpelstiltskin return to help Daisy?

A few tickets are still available for this nearly sold-out event, Peterson said. Performances are at 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. in W.M. Turner Auditorium. Tickets are $7.50 for individuals and $6 per person for groups of 20 or more.

To order tickets, call 936.468.6407 or 888.240.ARTS. Visit the CPAS website at www.cpas.sfasu.edu for additional information.