NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS – The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music will present two separate bassoon recitals on Sunday, Feb 20, and Monday, Feb. 21. Dr. Eric Varner of Michigan will present a guest recital at 3 p.m. Sunday, and Dr. Susan Nelson of the SFA music faculty will present a recital at 7:30 p.m. Monday. Both recitals will be held in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.
Varner, who is the principal bassoon with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra in Ontario, Canada, also teaches at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio. He will perform 20th century works, two of which were inspired by children.
Each movement of Amber Frenz’ “Songs for Wicked Children” paints a separate picture in the life of a wicked child, and “Deux Pieces Pour Bassoon et Piano” by Jean Francaix represents different moods and play of two children, explained Varner.
Nelson will join Varner on one movement of Francisco Mignone’s “Sonata for two bassoons. ” The duo will perform the entire piece again during Nelson’s recital the next evening.
In addition to the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Varner has been a member of the Michigan Opera Theater in Detroit, Ann Arbor Symphony and the Mannheim Chamber Orchestra in Germany. Active as a soloist and chamber musician, he has appeared throughout Europe, the United States and Canada.
Admission to Varner’s recital is free and open to the public. Immediately after the recital, he will give a master class to SFA bassoon students.
Nelson’s recital program is devoted to Latin American composers. As soloist, Nelson will perform three of Mignone’s “16 Waltzes,” and she and SFA Staff Accompanist Geneva Fung will present a five-movement suite by Argentinean composer Jorje Mockert.
Dr. Scott Harris, SFA associate professor of percussion, and Matt Poole, senior percussion major from The Woodlands, will join Nelson in presenting “Responsorio in memoriam Rodolfo Halffter” by Mexican composer Mario Lavista.
Nelson, who joined the SFA faculty in August, is active as a performer, teacher and clinician. She has performed with the annual Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria, as well as the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra, Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, Toledo Symphony Orchestra and the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra.
She has served as the principal bassoon in the Great Falls Symphony and was a member of the Chinook Winds Quintet in Great Falls, Mont. While teaching at Adrian College in Michigan, she performed with the Adrian Symphony Orchestra, and with the Heidelberg Faculty Woodwind Quintet while teaching at Heidelberg College in Ohio.
Nelson’s recital is a part of the SFA School of Music’s Cole Performing Arts Series. Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $2 for students. For tickets or more information, please go to www.finearts.sfasu.edu or call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS.
