Everything Nac

The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and School of Music will present Dr. Misha Galaganov in a guest viola recital at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, in the Music Recital Hall in the Wright Music Building on the SFA campus.

Galaganov, who is chair of strings and associate professor of viola at Texas Christian University, will be accompanied by colleague John Owings, professor of piano and piano division chair at TCU. The duo will perform “Music from the Library of Armand Pushman,” a program that features the works of Henri Marteau, Désuré Emile Inghelbrecht, Stan Golestan, Ernest Chausson and Joseph Jongen.

“Besides Chausson, most of these composers are lesser known; I’m sure that there will be some wonderful gems of chamber music among them,” said Dr. Jennifer Dalmas, professor of violin at SFA.

Referencing the program title, Dalmas explained that Pushman was one of two sons of the celebrated American-Armenian artist Hovsep Pushman. Armand and his brother were partners in Pushman & Company dealing in fine oriental rugs.

“Armand was a talented musician, having studied the viola in Paris with Maurice Vieux in his youth in the 1920s. He enjoyed playing chamber music to his last years,” she said.

Beginning at 4:30 p.m., Galaganov and Owings will give master classes that are free and open to the public. The piano class will be in Cole Concert Hall, and the viola class will be in the Music Recital Hall.

At 2:30 p.m. that day, Dalmas and her husband, Dr. Evgeni Raychev, cello instructor in the SFA School of Music, will perform a recital as the Hachidori Duo in Cole Concert Hall.

“With our duo concert that day, it will be a busy and exciting day for string students and string music enthusiasts at SFA,” Dalmas said.

Galaganov’s solo and chamber music engagements have taken him to concert halls in the USA, Latin America, Europe and China. He has given lectures and master classes in major conservatories around the world, including Juilliard, Beijing Conservatory and Shanghai Conservatory. He has taught and performed in several European and American festivals, such as EuroArts Festival in Germany, Orlando Festival in Holland, and Mimir Festival in the USA.

Owings holds the Herndon Professorship of Music at TCU. In 1993, the University conferred upon him its highest award, the Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Research and Creative Activity, for his performances of the 32 Beethoven Sonatas. Owings has appeared as soloist with the symphony orchestras of Cleveland, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Fort Worth, Houston, the Boston Pops, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestras of Colombia and Peru. He has performed recitals in major cities in the United States, Latin America, Europe and the Far East and has been a guest artist at numerous music festivals.

Concert admission is free. For more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

Gavin Tolar and Lillian (Lilly) Montes will serve as the 2015 Stephen F. Austin State University Children of the Court during the annual Homecoming celebration Oct. 30 and 31.

Gavin Leroy Tolar is the 6-year-old son of Marcus and Erika (Wulff) Tolar of Houston. Erika, a 2002 SFA graduate, is a worldwide account manager for the FedEx Corporation and serves on the Board of Directors for the SFA Alumni Association.

Gavin is a first grader at Abiding Word Lutheran School in Houston. He has a servant heart and enjoys volunteering at FedEx events and at the Kid’s Camp for the Council on Recovery. He truly bleeds purple and enjoys “throwing the axe” every chance he gets. He also has two aunts, Sarah Gallander, class of 1999, and Emily Doyle, class of 2006, and one uncle, John Gallander, class of 1999, who are all proud SFA alumni.

Gavin enjoys playing flag football, golf and soccer, participating in Tae Kwon Do, and fishing with his dad. He also likes to play Minecraft, eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, read books, and attend SFA athletic events. His favorite athletes are J.J. Watt, Arnold Palmer, former SFA basketball player Jacob Parker, and all SFA Lumberjack football players. Gavin wants to work in a business-related field when he grows up, and he plans to attend SFA in fall 2027.

Lillian (Lilly) Grace Montes is the 9-year-old daughter of Dr. Jennifer Criss (Montes) and Mr. Michael Montes of Nacogdoches. Criss, a 1998 SFA graduate, is a pediatric dentist in Nacogdoches and was named SFA Outstanding Young Alumna in 2012. In addition, she serves as a member of the SFASU Foundation Board of Trustees. Michael, a Nacogdoches native and Sam Houston State University alumnus, is a design engineer with GE Lufkin Industries. Lilly’s grandparents are Bob and Dath Crain of Nacogdoches; Robert and Donna Criss of Tennessee Colony, Texas; and Bennett and Rhonda Montes of Nacogdoches. Lilly also has a younger brother, Anderson.

Lilly attended SFA’s Janice A. Pattillo Early Childhood Research Center until she was 5. She is a third grader at Christ Episcopal School in Nacogdoches, and her favorite subjects are math, science and computer. Lilly and her family attend First United Methodist Church of Nacogdoches. She has played five years for the Nacogdoches Youth Soccer Association’s Dragonflies soccer team, where her father is a volunteer coach. She also is a member of the Academy Elite Ballet Company and will perform in the Nutcracker this Christmas.

Lilly enjoys visiting the library, reading, sewing and playing with her cat, Snowball. Inspired by her SFA Pre-K teachers, Lilly wants to become a pre-school teacher when she grows up.

Gavin and Lilly will ride in the Homecoming parade at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, as well as assist Dr. Baker Pattillo, SFA president, with crowning the 2015 Homecoming king and queen during halftime at the SFA football game against the University of the Incarnate Word. The game begins at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, at Homer Bryce Stadium.

Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and School of Music will present the Hachidori Duo performing a faculty recital at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, in Cole Concert Hall of the Wright Music Building on the SFA campus.

The Hachidori Duo includes music faculty members Dr. Jennifer Dalmas, violin, and Dr. Evgeni Raychev, cello. The husband-wife team will perform some of their favorite pieces from the duo repertoire for violin and cello they have discovered over the years.

The program includes two pieces the couple played during their Oct. 16 performance in Carnegie Hall. The duo will perform Sonata for Violin and Cello by Maurice Ravel and “F.C.’s Jig” by Mark O’Connor.

“The Ravel duo is probably the greatest duet ever written for this combination of instruments, and it is quite a change from Ravel’s typical style,” Dalmas said.

F.C. stands for “Fiddle Concerto,” as the melody of this duet is taken from O’Connor’s well-known work.

Other composers featured on the program will include Bohuslav Martinu and Johan Halvorsen.

“Evgeni and I have been playing duo music since we met in Florida almost 20 years ago,” Dalmas said. “Although we have played for various events and have been featured performing a piece here and there, it has been quite a while since we have played an entire duo recital together.”

Tickets to the recital 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.