Everything Nac

Acclaimed pianist Dr. Krassimira Jordan will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24, in Cole Concert Hall on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University.

Presented by the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Music, Jordan’s performance will feature the music of Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Liszt and Claude Debussy, according to Dr. Andrew Parr, professor of piano at SFA.

“I invited Dr. Jordan to come to SFA to play, having met her on the faculty of the Vienna Piano Academy in Vienna, Austria, last summer,” said Parr, who also served on the Vienna Piano Academy faculty during the summer of 2013.

Born in Varna, Bulgaria, of Russian and Bulgarian parents, Jordan has performed with much acclaim as a recitalist and orchestral soloist in major European cities in Austria, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Russia, Hungary, Poland, the Scandinavian countries, Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, Japan, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and the United States. She has appeared as soloist with the Wiener Symphoniker and the Tonkunstler Orchester in Vienna.

Jordan was professor of piano at the world-renowned Vienna Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts for 10 years. Her Carnegie Hall debut was followed by a special guest appearance on the noteworthy live radio show “The Listening Room” with Robert Shermann on the New York Times station, WQXR.

She is currently an artist-in-residence and professor of piano at Baylor University and is regularly invited to present masterclasses for piano students at universities around the world. Highly regarded as a teacher, her students have won top prizes at numerous international piano competitions in the USA, Europe and Asia.

Cole Concert Hall is located in the Tom and Peggy Wright Music Building, 2210 Alumni Drive.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students. For tickets or more information, visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu or call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and School of Art will host “Refined VIII: Maker’s Choice” exhibition Jan. 24 through March 29 in the Reavley Gallery of The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

“Refined” is a biennial exhibition of jewelry and metalwork hosted by the art metals program in the School of Art at SFA since 1998, according to John Handley, director of art galleries at SFA.

“Each exhibition comes with a theme, and ‘Maker’s Choice’ seemed a good idea as it denotes that these artists are makers of fine art,” Handley said. “‘Refined VIII: Maker’s Choice’ challenges artists to display their authentic talent, free from the concern of modifying the work to satisfy one theme.”

All work must be original and completed within the last two years, and submitted works are open to a full range of processes and materials.

“This exhibition is focused on the diverse field of metalworking and jewelry,” said Lauren B. Selden, assistant professor of art metal/jewelry at SFA. “Whether you work in metal, stones, plastic, fiber or found materials, if you are a ‘smith,’ it carries into whatever work you create.”

This year’s juror is Cindi Strauss, assistant director, programming and curator for modern and contemporary decorative arts and design at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In her dual roles at the MFAH, Strauss is responsible for the acquisition, research and exhibition of post-1900 decorative arts, design and craft as well as working with Steven Holl Architects to develop the program for the MFAH’s new building for post-1900 art.
In her time at the MFAH, Strauss has curated more than 20 exhibitions relating to her field. Recent exhibitions include “Shifting Paradigms in Contemporary Ceramics: The Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection,” “Form Follows Function: Celebrating the American Institute of Architects Houston Design Collection at the MFAH,” the traveling show “Ornament as Art: Avant-Garde Jewelry from the Helen Williams Drutt Collection,” “The Past Made Present: Contemporary Art and Memory” and “Liquid Lines: Exploring the Language of Contemporary Metal.” She has authored or contributed to major catalogues on craft and design media as well as written extensively for journals. She has also delivered lectures on craft and design topics at museums across the United States as well as at national symposia and art fairs.

The show will open Friday, Jan. 24, with a lecture by Strauss at 5:30 p.m. during which time she will present her work and announce the exhibition winners, followed by a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Admission is free.

The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House is located at 329 E. Main St. For additional information, call (936) 468-1131.