Everything Nac

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Percussion Ensemble will perform with guest artist Dr. Joshua Knight at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 8, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

Under the direction of Dr. Brad Meyer, director of percussion studies for the SFA School of Music, the ensemble will perform the music of Dwayne Rice and Nathan Daughtrey, among others.

Meyer and Knight, who is director of percussion studies at McMurry University, will collaborate to perform Blake Tyson’s “Vertical River,” a duet for marimba and vibraphone that reflects the good times Tyson and co-composer John Parks enjoyed during a rafting trip on the Boise River.

Knight will also perform the solo marimba part with a quartet of SFA percussionists on Daughtrey’s “Halcyon Days.” The composer researched the mythological origins of the phrase “halcyon,” which refers to a period of peace and tranquility, to gather more inspiration for the piece, according to Meyer.

The program also features Rice’s “Marimba Quartet No. 1” in two movements – “Nocturne” and “Presto.”

Knight has performed with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra, Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra, Conway Symphony Orchestra, Pine Bluff Symphony Orchestra and the Fort Smith Symphony Orchestra and currently performs with the River Valley Community Band and the Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra. He is active in commissioning and premiering new works for percussion.

Tickets for the concert, which is a presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Music, 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 Stone Fort Wind Quintet, a faculty ensemble at Stephen F. Austin State University, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, in Cole Concert Hall in the Tom and Peggy Wright Music Building on the SFA campus.

The program will feature a mix of music and will include works by Giuseppe Cambini, Josef Foerster, Daniel Baldwin and György Ligeti. The quintet features School of Music faculty members Christina Guenther-Scott, flute; John W. Goodall, oboe; Christopher Ayer, clarinet; Staci Spring, bassoon; and Charles Gavin, horn.

The concert, which is part of the Cole Performing Arts Series, opens with a wind quintet standard of the Classical era – Cambini’s Quintet No. 2 in D Minor.
“There were many Classical composers such as Cambini, (Franz) Danzi and (Anton) Reicha who wrote for the wind quintet, a relatively new ensemble in their day,” said Ayer, who is professor of clarinet at SFA.

Quintet, op. 95 by Foerster, which is written in the late Romantic style, will follow. This quintet involves “some very thick writing for the quintet and challenges all instruments,” Ayer said. “In many places, the listener can detect the late Romantic influence of (Richard) Wagner and his contemporaries.”

The second half of the concert opens with Baldwin’s “Dreams of the White Tiger.” Baldwin is currently the director of bands and orchestra at Tabor College. This work is the result of a group commission by several wind quintets around the country, and this will be one of the first performances of the piece, Ayer said.

The concert’s closing piece, Ligeti’s “Six Bagatelles,” has become a standard work in the wind quintet repertory since its composition in 1953.

“Despite being written more than 60 years ago, the music is very fresh sounding and energetic,” Ayer said. “The six short, varied movements are rhythmically intense with strong melodic motives dominating the texture. Ligeti uses the instruments of the quintet masterfully in creating different colors to constantly present the repetitive motives in unique ways.”

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.

Future college students will have the opportunity to experience a taste of campus life during a free, action-packed open-house Saturday at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches on March 28.

Prospective students will get to visit with university faculty and staff members, tour the campus and residence halls, and preview academic programs during the SFA Showcase Saturday event.

“There is no better time than Showcase Saturday to visit the beautiful SFA campus and enjoy the Lumberjack Experience,” said Ryan Horne, assistant director of the Office of Admissions.

“Guests are encouraged to visit one-on-one with our faculty to learn more about our quality, personalized academic programs, and our staff will be available to answer questions about everything from admission requirements to financial aid to residence life.”

SFA is a comprehensive, residential university located in the heart of Texas Forest Country in Nacogdoches. Approximately 13,000 students attend SFA, which is within a few hours’ drive of Texas’ major metropolitan areas.

Showcase Saturday event registration will begin at noon on the first floor of the Baker Pattillo Student Center and will remain open until 1 p.m. Each person who registers will receive an information packet. The opening program begins at 1 p.m. and will provide an overview of the day’s events.

Guests will then be able to visit with representatives of the academic departments until 4 p.m. at the Academic and Student Services Fair in the Student Recreation Center. Student service department representatives also will be on hand to provide information on campus life until 4:30 p.m. in the student center.

Campus and residence hall tours will begin at 1:45 p.m. and continue until 5 p.m. Campus tours will take students on a guided walk of the SFA campus, while the residence hall tour will showcase several halls on both the north and south ends of campus.

Admissions counselors will be available to discuss admission procedures and requirements in the Rusk Building, Room 206, from 1:45 to 5 p.m.

Financial aid information sessions will be held at 2:30, 3:15 and 4 p.m. in the Kennedy Auditorium, Room 101. Residence Life information sessions will be held at 2:30, 3:15 and 4 p.m. in the Baker Pattillo Student Center movie theater on the second floor.

Participating students will receive a free SFA T-shirt after turning in a completed evaluation form in the Grand Ballroom of the student center from 4 to 5 p.m.

For more information about SFA’s Showcase Saturday, contact the SFA Office of Admissions at (936) 468-2504 or email admissions@sfasu.edu.