Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music will present its annual SFA Holiday Celebration at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.
A highlight of the program will be a performance of “Christmas Cantata,” or “Sinfonia Sacra,” by Daniel Pinkham. The concert will also feature works by Dominick Argento, Felix Mendelssohn, George Frideric Handel, Eric Edward Whitacre and Giuseppe Verdi, along with seasonal favorites.
The celebration will showcase the SFA A Cappella Choir, Men’s Choir, Women’s Choir and SFA Brass ensemble. Conductors will be Dr. Michael Murphy, director of choral activities at SFA; Dr. Tod Fish, associate director of choral activities; and graduate conductors Jacob Rivas of The Colony and David Zielke of Albany, Oregon. Accompanists will be SFA collaborative pianists Dr. Ron Petti, Dr. Thomas Nixon and Hyun Ji Oh.
“American composer Daniel Pinkham composed his ‘Christmas Cantata’ as a 20th century homage to the Venetian School of choir and brass,” Murphy explained. “This style was particularly embodied in the works of Giovanni Gabrieli. The work is comprised of three movements and features a double brass choir.”
The SFA Women’s Choir will present Verdi’s “Laudi alla Vergine Maria” from his famous “Quattro pezzi sacri” (Four Sacred Pieces). The work is scored for four-part women’s choir. This year’s SFA Women’s Choir has been invited to sing in March at the Southwest Division of the American Choral Directors Association Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The Men’s Chorus will present Whitacre’s “Lux Arumque,” arranged for mixed choirs, men’s choirs and wind band. The work was inspired by Edward Esch’s poem, “Light and Gold.”
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.
