Everything Nac

The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and School of Music will present the violin and double bass duet of Martha Walvoord and Jack Unzicker at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21, in the Music Recital Hall in the Wright Music Building on the SFA campus.

Walvoord and Unziker, both professors of music at the University of Texas, Arlington, are married, and each enjoys an active career as a soloist and chamber musician.

Walvoord’s recent solo performances have taken her to China, Hong Kong, Spain, England, Costa Rica and across the U.S., including her performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Violin Concerto” with the Quingdao Symphony Orchestra.

Unzicker is the principal double bassist of the newly formed Dallas Chamber Symphony and the Plano Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed as principal with the AIMS Festival Orchestra in Graz, Austria, Dallas Wind Symphony and the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra. He regularly performs with the Dallas Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Opera.

Their SFA program will feature chamber works for the violin and double bass, an “interesting combination” in that the highest and lowest members of the string family are represented, according to Jennifer Dalmas, associate professor of violin at SFA.

“The contrast in timbres and the sonority of these instruments together will create a really enjoyable concert experience,” Dalmas said.

The most well known piece for this relatively obscure chamber music combination is a Suite for Violin and Double Bass by Reinhold Gliere, a composer of the Romantic era. Other works on the program are by more contemporary composers, and Walvoord transcribed two of the works for these instruments.

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

SFA’s Ad Hoc advertising club had students on the first-, second- and third-place winning teams at the American Advertising Federation-Houston Student Advertising competition Nov. 8-9.

Thirty-three Ad Hoc members competed alongside students from 17 universities at the annual competition. The students had eight hours to create campaigns for Midtown Houston, a newly incorporated area of the city that is beginning a promotional advertising campaign.

SFA students on the first-place team were Ranel Gallardo and Katie Stamy, second-place winners were Aaron Montilla and Terrance Coleman, and third-place team members were Meagan Bonnin and Vicente Marrero. The first-place team created a campaign that positioned Midtown Houston as “the heartbeat of Houston.”

Competitors were sorted into groups with students from universities from Texas, Louisiana, Kansas and Oklahoma. They spent Friday working at Houston television and radio stations, ad agencies, and other media firms. Each 10-person group had to create a plans book that included research, traditional advertising, social media, promotional events and a video presentation of their campaign.

On Saturday, the students attended portfolio and résumé sessions, roundtables with potential employers, and talks and panels about creativity and career advancement. Faculty advisers Danny Anguiano of the SFA School of Art and Dr. Linda Thorsen Bond of the Department of Mass Communication attended academic workshops and tours organized by the American Advertising Federation.

SFA’s Ad Hoc advertising club had students on the first-, second- and third-place winning teams at the American Advertising Federation-Houston Student Advertising competition Nov. 8-9. Pictured from left are first-place winners Ranel Gallardo and Katie Stamy; second-place winners Aaron Montilla and Terrance Coleman; and third-place winners Vicente Marrero and Meagan Bonnin.

SFA Ad Hoc advertising members represented the university well at the AAF-Houston Student Advertising Conference and Competition. Front row, from left: Zack Dickey, Carolyn Whitney, Vicente Marrero, Meagan Bonnin, Iris Favela, Zach Welch, Shauntel Barron and Ranel Gallardo. Second row, from left: Taylor Grimes, Catherine Dorsey, Katie Stamy, Milana Davis, Symantha Dickens, Amber Juarez, Corey Harvey, Delaney Bentley, Jocelyn Stephens, Jordan Allen, Rachel Gee and Alexis Morgan. Third row: Alicia Sanders, Drew Ryals, Josh Pingenot, Austin Pullin, Rachel Hinsken, Jonathen Ruesch, Krystal Williams, Benjamin Dodson, Terrance Coleman, Ian Iversen and Aaron Montilla.

Photos by Bruce Partain

The Stephen F. Austin State University dance program will present “Danceworks,” a studio concert featuring student, faculty and guest artist choreography, Nov. 20-22.

Student works include senior choreographic projects by dance majors Brittany Barrerra and Ashley Sharp, as well as an independent choreographic project by Keith Haynes.

Guest artist choreography features “The Other One,” a work by Min Kim of University of Texas-Pan American, and “Creed of Fools” choreographed by Meredith Early-Robertson of the University of Southern Mississippi. Early-Robertson served as a guest artist in October and set her three-part work to music by Brazilian composer/artist Gaetano Veloso, Burt Bacharach and the band M83 on members of the SFA Repertory Dance Company.

SFA faculty choreography will be presented by Professor Stan Bobo, whose work “Secret Elan” is an atmospheric yet playful piece to music by Patrick Roulette and Eugene Ars. Professor Elizabeth Rhodes, whose research interests include Latin American dance, will present an upbeat Latin jazz piece to music from the album “Cubanismo!” by Jesus Alemañy. Adjunct faculty member Heather Samuelson has recreated “Qui Manque de Vie,” a somber piece that is approached by the dancers with seriousness and drive.

Performances will be at 7 p.m. Nov. 20 and 21 and 3 p.m. Nov. 22. The concert will be held in the dance studio located in the Lucille Norton HPE Complex, Room 201. Ticket prices are $5 for students, $8 for SFA faculty and staff members and senior citizens, and $12 for general admission. The box office is located in the lobby of the HPE building, and tickets go on sale one hour before each performance. For more information, email dance@sfasu.edu or call (936) 468-1543.

The exhibition “To Spin A Yarn, Distaffs: Folk Art and Material Culture” is showing through Jan. 10 in Reavley Gallery in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

According to the guest curator, Michael T. Ricker, the exhibition features spinning tools, which represent one aspect of the weaving tradition common to virtually all cultures.

Ricker will discuss the exhibition in a gallery talk at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21, followed by a reception. Historian Sarida Steed-Bradley will give a spinning demonstration at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22.

The exhibition contains more than 60 19th- and 20th-century distaffs, originating from Russia and European countries from Scandinavia to the Balkans. Ricker describes them as “beautiful, but inherently simple, tools used for spinning fiber.” He provides an expanded discussion of distaffs in his book by the same title, “To Spin A Yarn, Distaffs: Folk Art and Material Culture,” published by SFA Press.

“SFA Press published the beautiful full-color book last year, and so we brought the exhibition to the Cole Art Center,” said John Handley, director of SFA art galleries.

In his book, Ricker writes, “In certain cultures, distaffs evolved over centuries from plain sticks to surprisingly ornate sculptures. They eventually became important cultural objects, with almost ritualistic significance.” He adds, “Despite their importance and wide proliferation, distaffs are rarely found today. Many did not survive years of hard use. Others were relegated to attics and barns, deteriorating both physically and within communal memory. Today, distaffs remain cultural touchstones and marvelous examples of the rural craftsman’s talent and creativity.”

The exhibition is sponsored in part by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts and Nacogdoches Junior Forum. Admission is free.

The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. For information about this exhibition and others at The Cole Art Center, call (936) 468-1131.

Cutline: The exhibition “To Spin A Yarn, Distaffs: Folk Art and Material Culture,” now showing at The Cole Art Center, will be discussed in a gallery talk at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21, followed by a reception. A spinning demonstration will be at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22.

The music of Los Angeles-based jazz composers as well as jazz legends like Miles Davis will be featured when the Swingin’ Axes and Swingin’ Aces at Stephen F. Austin State University perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

Pieces by John Clayton, Tom Kubis and multi-Grammy nominated composer Gordon Goodwin will be among the music performed by the Swingin’ Axes, directed by Gary Wurtz, professor of trumpet and jazz studies at SFA.

“Because of the influence of the Hollywood recording industry, L.A. is the home to some of the best all-around musicians in the world,” Wurtz said. “With access to such a high level of talent, these gifted composers can comfortably write almost anything they want, knowing the local musicians are up to the challenge. For that reason, some of the most cutting-edge music comes to us out of the L.A. scene.”

Goodwin’s “The Phat Pack,” “Horn of Puente,” “Backrow Politics” and “Hunting Wabbits” are on the Swingin’ Axes’ program, along with “Samba Dees Gotta Do It” by Kubis and Clayton’s “I Be Serious ‘Bout Dem Blues.”

The Swingin’ Aces, directed by Deb Scott, professor of trombone and jazz studies at SFA, will perform Nightowl Suite, Movement 1 by Mike Tomaro, “Freddie Freeloader” by Miles Davis, “Caravan” by John Tizol and arranged by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band/Wynton Marsalis, and “After You’ve Gone” by Turner Layton and arranged by Mark Taylor. Also on the Swingin’ Aces’ program is “Tank” (opening theme to “Cowboy Bebop”) by Yoko Kanno and arranged by Eric Dannewitz.

“The Aces are performing a wide variety of jazz styles,” Scott said, “including the fun Latin Dirty Dozen Brass Band sound of ‘Caravan,’ which features the bass line on tuba performed by freshman science major Aarron DeLuca from Kaufman. Senior music major from The Colony Josh Reyna, on alto saxophone, will be featured on the exciting swing theme, ‘Tank.’”

The concert is a joint 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 College of Fine Arts and School of Music will present the Orchestra of the Pines in concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The orchestra will present “Memorable Melodies,” a program that ranges from “the extremely familiar to the nearly obscure,” according to Gene H. Moon, director of orchestras at SFA.

“Nonetheless, those who join us will leave with a number of memorable melodies to hum on the way home,” Moon said.

Guest artists for the evening are senior voice student Flora Wall, soprano from Humble, and senior percussion student Juwan Blanton of Lufkin, who will play the snare drum.

Among the most familiar pieces to be performed is Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, which is known for its opening four-note motive, “fate knocking at the door.” Orchestra of the Pines last performed this famous work seven years ago, Moon said.

“This is one of Beethoven’s most thrilling works, if not in the entire orchestral oeuvre,” Moon said.

The orchestra will also perform Maurice Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante défunte, whose opening melody played on the horn is “wistfully mesmerizing,” Moon said. Joining the guest soloists will be guest conductor and graduate conducting student, Jeff Leung from Hong Kong.

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.