Everything Nac

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music will present concert pianist Hai Jin performing the program “Summer Dreams” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

Filled with “lots of pictures and imagination,” the program features music from various periods and styles, from Baroque to Romantic, impressionism to nationalism, according to Jin.

“All of the pieces are related to paintings, poetic sources and the imagination,” she said.

The recital opens with works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Robert Schumann. Bach’s “Sheep My Safely Graze” is a soprano aria written in 1713 as part of his cantata Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd, BWV 208, also known as the “Hunting Cantata,” with text by Saloman Franck.

“The cantata’s title translates ‘The lively hunt is all my heart’s desire,'” Jin explained.

The other Bach piece, “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring,” is frequently played at weddings.

Schumann’s Arabeske Op.18 is also on the program. The term “Arabeske” is used here as a poetic metaphor, Jin explained.

French composer Maurice Ravel’s “Miroirs,” French for “Mirrors,” has five movements, each dedicated to a fellow member of the avant-garde artist group Les Apaches. “Noctuelles,” or “Moths,” is described as a chromatic work, maintaining a dark, nocturnal mood throughout. “Oiseaux tristes,” or “Sad Birds,” represents a lone bird whistling a sad tune, after which others join in. “Une barque sur l’océan,” or “A Boat on the Ocean,” recounts a boat as it sails upon the waves of the ocean, with arpeggiated sections and sweeping melodies imitating the flow of ocean currents. “Alborada del gracioso,” or “The Jester’s Morning Song,” incorporates Spanish musical themes into its complicated melodies. “La vallée des cloches,” or “The Valley of Bells,” elicits the sounds of bells through its use of sonorous harmonies.

The program closes with two selections from Goyescas Op. 11, a piano suite written in 1911 by Spanish composer Enrique Granados.

“This piano suite is usually considered Granados’s crowning creation and was inspired by the paintings of Francisco Goya,” Jin said. “Quejas, ó la maja y el ruiseñor,” or “The Maiden and the Nightingale,” is the best-known piece from the suite, and “El pelele,” or “The Puppet,” is a fast, technically difficult piece.

Jin is a D.M.A. candidate at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and she is the assistant conductor of the Maryland Lyric Opera. She is an active concert pianist, chamber musician and orchestral soloist and is a member of the Sassmannshaus Piano Trio. She has performed across the U.S. and Asia.

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.

A fun evening of jazz featuring the Swingin’ Axes and Swingin’ Aces from Stephen F. Austin State University will be presented from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, March 1, at LugNutz Bar & Grill.

If weather permits, the jazz bands will perform on the outdoor stage. In inclement weather, the concert will be moved indoors.

The evening will open with The Swingin’ Aces, directed by Dr. J.D. Salas, performing a mix of big band favorites such as Count Basie’s “April in Paris” and Duke Ellington’s “Take the A Train.” The band will also feature newer works for jazz ensemble, including Kris Berg’s “No Spring Chicken,” which rearranges some of the themes from Pee-Wee Ellis’s well-known funk song “The Chicken.”

The Swingin’ Axes, directed by Dr. Deb Scott, will perform more big band favorites from the 1940s, including “In the Mood” and “String of Pearls,” both made famous by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, as well as “Song of India” as performed by Tommy Dorsey.

The evening will also include a performance by a newly formed jazz band, the SFA Jazz Club, directed by jazz graduate teaching assistant Max Mucino. The band will perform Cab Calloway’s “Minnie the Moocher” and Al Jarreau’s “Roof Garden,” among others.

“As the evening progresses, so will the music, changing to blues, funk and rock,” Scott said.

Concert tickets may be purchased ahead of time at the SFA Fine Arts Box Office for $10. Tickets at the door will be $15. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu. Tickets do not include food or beverages.

All proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the School of Music jazz program.

LugNutz is located at 5287 U.S. Highway 59 approximately five miles south of Loop 224, Nacogdoches. Drinks from the bar and food from LugNutz’ Spitfire Grill will be available for purchase.