Everything Nac

Christopher Deane, associate professor of percussion at the University of North Texas, will perform with the SFA Percussion Ensemble in a recital at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 25, in Cole Concert Hall on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University.

Acclaimed percussionist Christopher Deane will perform with SFA students in a recital at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 25, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

Dayton senior John Gaedchens will perform Deane’s classic vibraphone solo “Mourning Dove Sonnet.” His performance will utilize violin bows and pitch-bending techniques to mimic the sliding, sustained pitches of dove songs, Meyer said.

Deane will be featured on two solo pieces, including “Colossus” by Eric Rhodis, which will highlight Deane’s “masterful timpani expertise,” according to Meyer. The piece will be guest conducted by Scott Harris, interim director of the School of Music. “Concerto pour vibraphone” by Emmanuel Sejourne will showcase Deane’s artistry on the vibraphone.

“I have known Christopher Deane for almost 20 years and have always been impressed and amazed at his musical sensitivity and versatility,” Harris said. “His compositions have become standard repertoire in the percussion literature, and his sense of long, sustained lines, coupled with developing musical drama, is a unique quality in his music.”

Deane will also spend time on campus working with SFA percussion students in a master class and clinics focusing on classical excerpts and interpretation, contemporary tambourine techniques and general musicianship.

Prior to his appointment to UTN, Deane was the principal timpanist of the Greensboro Symphony and a regular performer with the North Carolina Symphony. He has performed with numerous orchestras around the nation and has won prizes in composition from the Percussive Arts Society. Deane is an artist/educator clinician for Innovative Percussion Company, Sabian Cymbals, Dynasty Corporation and Black Swamp Percussion.

“If you are looking to hear/see a concert unlike any concert you’ve experienced before, you need to come to this concert,” Meyer said. “Deane not only utilizes standard ways of creating music, but invents new exciting techniques and methods that explore the unlimited sonic possibilities of the percussion world.”

Deane’s guest performance is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and the School of Music and is a featured event in the Cole Performing Arts Series. Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $2 for students. For tickets or more information, call the Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407.

The Piney Woods Camerata, a conductor-less string ensemble composed of Stephen F. Austin State University music faculty members Jennifer Dalmas (violin) and Evgeni Raychev (cello) and select SFA string students, will present a concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The Piney Woods Camerata is concluding a six-year dedicated project of promoting the music from the Baroque and Classical periods with special emphasis on the concerti grossi written by Italian Baroque composer Arcangello Corelli, according to Raychev.

“The project was carefully planned to conclude with a performance that would commemorate the 300th anniversary of Corelli’s death,” Raychev said.

The program will include compositions by George Frideric Handel, Lorenzo Zavateri, Francesco Manfredini and Johann Sebastian Bach and will end with the final Concerto Grosso by Corelli, Op. 6 No. 12.

“The ensemble, which works without a conductor, strives to provide an opportunity for students to excel in their musical abilities through dynamic collaboration with professional musicians,” Raychev said.

The concert, which is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Music, is part of the Cole Performing Arts Series. Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $2 for students. For tickets or more information, call the Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre will present the student-directed production of “WASP” by comedian Steve Martin at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, in the Downstage Theatre in the Griffith Fine Arts Building on the SFA campus.

The one-act play will be directed by Mesquite senior John Lisi.

“‘WASP’ is an absurd comedy that presents Steve Martin’s view of the traditional culture of White Anglo-Saxon Protestants,” Lisi said.

The student cast features Nacogdoches junior Bailey Wier, Amarillo sophomore Mary Collie, San Antonio junior Jordan Boyd, Spring Branch junior Allison Day, Rota, Spain, sophomore Michael Spencer and Longview junior Valarie McLeckie.

The production team includes Austin Holt, Weatherford junior, as stage manager; Antonio Dibernardo, Mesquite sophomore, as scenic designer; Megan Thomas, Houston senior, as costume designer; Kaitlyn Turney, Jacksonville senior, as lighting designer; Amanda Warren, Nacogdoches sophomore, as sound designer; and Virginia Arteaga, Houston senior, as properties manager.

A senior acting major, Lisi’s previous directing credits include “Sure Thing” by David Ives. He has appeared on stage in “Art,” “She Stoops to Conquer” and “Old Saybrook.”

“WASP” is recommended for mature audiences. Tickets are $3. For tickets or more information, call the Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407.

Dr. Mengmeng Gu, assistant professor and extension ornamental horticulturist at Texas A&M University, will present “Urban Landscape Philosophy and Strategies in China” at the upcoming Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series hosted by SFA Gardens.

The lecture will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14, in Room 110 of the Agriculture Building located on Wilson Drive on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus.

Gu earned a bachelor’s degree in landscape horticulture and a master’s degree in ornamental horticulture from Beijing Forestry University. She received her doctorate in plant science/horticulture from the University of Arkansas. From 2006 to 2011, Gu served as assistant professor and extension specialist at Mississippi State University, and in January 2012, she was named assistant professor and extension specialist at Texas A&M. She also is a member of the graduate faculty at the university. Her specializations include ornamental horticulture, landscaping, plant stress physiology and sustainable agriculture.

The Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series is normally held the third Thursday of each month at the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture’s SFA Mast Arboretum. A rare plant raffle will be held after the program. The lecture is free and open to the public, but donations to the Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series endowed fund always are appreciated. For more information, call (936) 468-1832 or email grantdamon@sfasu.edu.