SFA School of Music to present guest flute, piano recital

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music will present a flute and piano recital when guest artists Meghan Bennett and Maria Lyapkova perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 28, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

Bennett is adjunct instructor of flute at Prairie View A&M University, and Lyapkova is a teaching assistant at The University of Texas in Austin.

Their program features “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” by Christoph Willibald Gluck; Sonata for Flute and Piano by Anatoly Samonov; Black Anemones for Flute and Piano by Joseph Schwantner; and Sonata for Flute and Piano by Yuko Uebayashi.

Bennett leads a diverse career as an educator and solo, chamber and orchestral musician. Most recently, she was guest soloist with Chamber Music International in Dallas, joined the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players on tour, and was flutist with Spotlight on Opera in Austin. She has performed with the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra, Waco Symphony Orchestra, Round Rock Symphony and the Palmetto Opera Orchestra.

Bennett is a founding member of both Prismatx Ensemble, a contemporary music ensemble based in Austin, and Li5ten quintet, 2017 quarterfinalists at the Fischoff Competition, and she is a recipient of the Chamber Music Residency Fellowship at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. She is also a member of Emissary Quartet, whose 2016-17 season highlights included an invitation to perform and present a workshop at the Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention and a week-long residency in Seattle, Washington.

Lyapkova has appeared at top festivals including the Aspen Music Festival and School and the National Music Festival in the United States, Spotlight on Young Musicians in France, and the Primavera Classica in Russia. Prior to her duties at U.T.-Austin, she was a full-time staff accompanist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and instructed chamber music, piano ensemble class and piano accompaniment at the University of South Florida.

The SFA concert is a joint presentation of the College of Fine Arts and School of Music. 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.