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The Choral Union and Women’s Choir at Stephen F. Austin State University will present “From Heaven to Earth” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, in Cole Concert Hall in the Wright Music Building on the SFA campus.

The program includes selections that pertain to the subjects of Heaven or Earth or both, according to Tod Fish, associate director of choral activities at SFA and the choirs’ director.

Joining the Choral Union in performing a selection from Joseph Haydn’s “Creation” will be SFA voice faculty members Debbie Berry, Jamie Dahman and Chris Turner. Staci Spring, bassoon instructor, will also join the Women’s Choir to play continuo on a selection from “Christ lag in Todesbanden” by J.S. Bach.

“We will also be joined by student instrumental majors on works by Heinrich Schütz, Ron Nelson and Craig Hella Johnson,” Fish said.

Among the works the Women’s Choir will perform are “Hoj, Hura Hoj,” which is a Moravian mountain song in Czechoslovakian arranged by Otmar Macha,

“Macha employs many special effects to emulate the sounds of echoes bouncing off the mountains,” Fish explained.

The choir will also perform “Tundra” by Ola Gjeilo and “Nigra Sum” by Pablo Casals.

“This motet setting, by the famous cellist Casals, is a staple in the women’s chorus repertoire,” Fish said. “Casals uses simple, tonal harmonies to create a beautiful lyrical composition that is loved by choirs and audiences alike.”

The Choral Union will perform “Herr, wenn ich nur dich habe” from “Musikalische Exequien” by Schütz. “Musikalische Exequien,” literally translated is “Funeral Music,” and is a product of the composer’s “minimalist” period, where he adapted his music to suit his meager resources during the Thirty Years War, according to Fish.

“Ave Maria” by Igor Stravinsky, “Spaseniye sodelal” by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov and “Earth Song” by Frank Ticheli will also be performed.

“‘Earth Song’ delivers a poignant message of music and singing, serving as our refuge in these tumultuous times of world unrest,” Fish explained. “It is a song of hope for a peaceful future.”

The concert, which is a joint presentation of the College of Fine Arts and School of Music, will also include graduate student Marissa Maddoux conducting “Lift Thine Eyes” from Elijah by Felix Mendelssohn.

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 guest artist and SFA alumnus Trevor Culp performing in SFA’s Ninth Annual Octubafest at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

“SFA is one of several universities around the country that takes part in Octubafest, which was created to promote the tuba and euphonium as solo and chamber instruments rather than an accompanying bass line,” said J.D. Salas, assistant professor of tuba and euphonium studies at SFA.

Culp, who is principal tubist for the Santa Fe Symphony, will perform “Concerto in F minor for Bass Tuba” by Ralph Vaughan Williams and “Sonata in E Flat” by Johann Sebastian Bach.

“Composed in 1954, the Williams concerto is the first ever written for solo tuba and orchestra,” Salas said. “It has stood the test of time as the definitive concerto for the instrument.”

Originally composed for flute, “Sonata in E Flat” made its way in to the tuba repertoire and shows the dexterity of the instrument, Salas explained.

“Some musicologists suggest that this is the work, at least in part, of C.P.E. Bach or some other composer,” he said. “Yet, the authorship has not been disputed seriously enough for this light, entertaining piece to be banned from the Bach catalog. Here, the composer takes note of the emerging gallant style of the 1730s, with light textures, simple harmonies and highly ornamented melodies.”

Culp is a freelance musician and private instructor in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He holds degrees from SFA and Southern Methodist University and has performed with the Tulsa Symphony, Tulsa Ballet, Victoria Symphony and Lyric Stage. Culp has earned honors in several music festivals including first prize in the Mock Orchestral Audition at the 2011 National Brass Symposium. In 2008, while at SFA, he earned the “President’s Award for Outstanding Soloist.” He has advanced in several international auditions, and was runner-up for the “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band and a finalist for the New Jersey Symphony principal tuba audition.

Tickets for this Cole Performing Arts Series event 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 Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band will feature the music of composer-in-residence Kevin Walczyk when the ensembles perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014 in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.

Walczyk, who is professor of music at Western Oregon University, will be on campus prior to the concert to work with SFA music students, according to David Campo, associate director of bands at SFA and conductor of the Wind Symphony.

The Symphonic Band, under the direction of Tamey Anglley, assistant director of bands at SFA, will open the concert performing “Flourish for Wind Band” by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Originally written as an overture to a pageant in the Royal Albert Hall in 1939, the piece has also been adapted for brass band and symphony orchestra, according to Anglley.

The Symphonic Band will next feature Walczyk’s “Children’s Folksong Suite” written in 2007.

“This five-movement work is based on five Hungarian folk melodies with simple, child-like character found in Béla Bartók’s piano collection entitled ‘For Children,’” Anglley said.

The Symphonic Band will also perform “Shadow Rituals” by Michael Markowski, which won first prize in The Frank Ticheli Composition Contest in 2006. Dedicated to Ticheli, this one-movement piece is “a rhythmic, energetic, dark and mystical dance – a reflection of something primitive or ancient,” Anglley explained.

The Symphonic Band will close its portion of the concert with “Trafalgar March” by Wilhelm Zehle.

The Wind Symphony will perform two of Walczyk’s works. “From Glory to Glory” was commissioned by the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Conference to honor and celebrate the life of Heather Reu, daughter of Molly and Ray Cramer. Cramer is a past president of the Midwest Clinic and former director of bands at Indiana University.

“Heather’s life was lived with energy, commitment, passion and an incredible love for her adopted children,” Campo said. “Walczyk dedicated this work to all those who were blessed by Heather’s life.”

“Visionplace of Souls” was composed as a memoriam to those who sacrificed their lives during the rescue efforts surrounding the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Walzyck commented, “I remembered a passage from the memoirs of a citizen soldier of the American Civil War whose words, written over a century ago, have found meaning in the collective tribulation of Sept. 11, 2001.” The passage reads, “In great deeds, something abides. On great fields, something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear; but spirits linger to consecrate ground for the visionplace of souls.”

“The words of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain still ring true today; the heroes of these new battlefields have certainly demonstrated that, ‘in great deeds,’ hope, life and liberty will prevail forever,” Campo said.

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.