Everything Nac

College-bound students and their families are invited to Stephen F. Austin State University’s Showcase Preview and Virtual Showcase, both of which will be held during October.

“Whether you attend one of our Showcase SFA events in person or virtually, we’ve designed them all to give attendees an up-close and personal look at everything our campus has to offer,” said Emily Jefferson, SFA director of undergraduate recruitment. “It’s the perfect event to have all your college questions answered while experiencing our campus in really unique ways.”

Showcase Preview

Showcase Preview will take place from 9:30 a.m. to noon Oct. 11 on the SFA campus. It will feature informational fairs and breakout sessions. Jack Walkers, who are current students who serve as tour guides, also will be present at the Showcase Preview to offer tours.

“Showcase was the event that truly opened my heart to SFA,” said Iris Rios, a senior marketing major and Jack Walker. “Attendees can meet so many other future Lumberjacks and get a genuine feel for the campus.”

As a weekday event, prospective students and their families also will have the opportunity to see the campus in action. Smaller than a Showcase Saturday but larger than a campus tour experience, Showcase Preview is the right fit for families looking to make a quick trip to the piney woods.

A welcome session will begin at 9:30 a.m. followed by breakout sessions covering a wide range of topics, including first-year and transfer admission, financial aid, and more.

Attendees may then participate in campus and residence hall tours, academic and student services fairs, and other optional sessions, including a mock classroom experience.

“Showcase-goers should expect to gain knowledge, connections and a deeper love for SFA,” said Kallie Menard, a family and consumer sciences senior and Jack Walker. “Showcase is a great experience and opportunity to learn more about SFA, and also to hang out with our Jack Walkers and other current and prospective students!”

Virtual Showcase

Virtual Showcase will be offered from 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 22. The virtual event provides participants a unique space to interact with academic departments and student resources, showcasing the ways in which SFA is meeting the needs of today’s student in a highly technological world.

“Our Showcase events are the best way to not only get plugged into the SFA community, but also to meet other first-year students who are headed to college at the same time as you,” said Kaci Foster, a senior business management major and Jack Walker. “Our Virtual Showcase offers a chance to meet our admissions team and receive guidance to make sure you’re set and ready for college.”

Held exclusively over Zoom, SFA’s Virtual Showcase will begin with a welcome session. Academic breakout sessions by college will then take place, followed by other breakouts covering a range of topics, including first-year and transfer admissions, as well as student services overviews.

“Our Showcase guests will get an exclusive look at all aspects of campus life and have a chance to speak with Lumberjacks from every corner of SFA,” said Thomas Martin, senior political science major and Jack Walker.

Unique to our Virtual Showcase is a student-led panel that will allow attendees to speak to and ask questions of our current students. Virtual Showcase will end with optional sessions, including personalized admission counseling and a virtual campus tour.

To register for a Showcase SFA event or for more information, visit sfasu.edu/showcase.

By Christine Broussard, marketing communications coordinator at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Due to inclement weather, tonight’s “Swingin’ at the Brewery” with the jazz bands of Stephen F. Austin State University has been canceled. Because of the rain, the electronic equipment cannot be loaded in safely.

The Wind Ensemble at Stephen F. Austin State University will present the program “Solace” when the band performs at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12, in the Grand Ballroom of the Baker Pattillo Student Center on the SFA campus.

Under the direction of Dr. Tamey Anglley, director of bands at SFA, the ensemble will perform works by Percy Grainger, Emmanuel Chabrier, Donald Grantham and guest composer Joel Love.

The concert opens with Grainger’s “The Duke of Marlborough Fanfare” for brass and percussion written in 1939 from an English folk song about personal dedication and pride in battle. “It served as an outlet for Grainger’s sadness and frustration of having to flee England before the outbreak of World War II,” Anglley explained.

Chabrier composed “Marche Joyeuse” for piano in 1885, but it was orchestrated in 1888. Legendary Texas music educator Fred Junkin arranged the march for wind band in 1998.

“Baron Cimetiere’s Mambo,” written in 2004 by Grantham, is based on the voodoo spirit who is the keeper and guardian of cemeteries and is “usually pictured in a dark tailcoat and tall dark hat, like an undertaker, and is a notorious mocker and trickster,” according to Grantham. Guest composer Love studied composition with Grantham at the University of Texas at Austin from 2010 through 2014.

Wind Ensemble will perform its first piece by Love, “Solace: A Lyric Concerto” for Solo Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble. The alto saxophone soloist will be Interim Director of the School of Music and Professor of Saxophone Dr. Nathan Nabb. “‘Solace’ is in five movements where each movement meditates on a mood: joy, besieged, gratitude, hiding and work. The saxophone is challenged to play lyrically in extreme registers while playing virtuosic passages in five unique sound worlds,” according to Love.

The Wind Ensemble will close its first concert of the season with Love’s “Indigo Train.” This piece, written for Love’s high school band director Gary Wells, takes its inspiration from trains due to Wells growing up around trains. “Trains inspire images of the Deep South and the rich history of the blues, which was born there and eventually traveled up the Mississippi to Chicago,” Love said. “I imagined a person quickly traveling through railcars, experiencing a slightly different music in each.”

Admission to the concert is free. Other upcoming band concerts include the Wind Symphony and Symphonic band performing at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, and the Wind Ensemble, Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band, Percussion Ensemble, Trombone Choir and the SFA Faculty Brass Quintet presenting the Kaleidoscope Concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16, all in the Grand Ballroom of the student center. For additional information, contact the School of Music at (936) 468-4602.