Everything Nac

A blue Fiberglass Bahne skateboard started it all for professional skateboarder and successful business owner Tony Hawk, who at 16 years old was widely considered the world’s best skateboarder.

The world skateboarding champion for 12 consecutive years, Hawk continues to skate in demonstrations and exhibitions, making him among the most-recognized athletes in the U.S.

Hawk has transformed his love of skateboarding into a successful billion-dollar business and continues to pave the way for upcoming athletes. He also is passionate about giving back to the community through his Tony Hawk Foundation.

A fervent entrepreneur, Hawk will serve as the guest speaker in the second installment of Stephen F. Austin State University’s Rusche College of Business Nelson Rusche Distinguished Lecture Series scheduled for 7:30 p.m. April 29 in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Grand Ballroom on the university’s campus.

The lecture series was created in 2016 to honor A. Nelson Rusche, who endowed the college with a $5 million gift to provide scholarships to students majoring in business and to support other programs.

Through a question-and-answer format, Hawk will discuss his passion, entrepreneurship and the importance of giving back.

“The opportunity to have Tony Hawk as our speaker at the Nelson Rusche Distinguished Lecture Series will provide an especially engaging and informative opportunity for our students,” said Dr. Tim Bisping, dean of the Rusche College of Business.

“One of the many benefits of the freedoms we enjoy is that we have the ability to both pursue our passions and utilize our successes as we choose. In many ways, Mr. Hawk has chosen to use his success to help others,” Bisping said. “Many of our students will soon graduate and enjoy great successes of their own, and I hope this example set by Mr. Hawk is one the students will always remember.”

In 1999, Hawk teamed with Activision, an American video game publisher, to create Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video game. During the X Games that same year, he became the first skateboarder to successfully complete a 900, the pinnacle of “vert skateboarding,” which is the art of skateboarding vertical walls.

Today, Hawk’s business skills have helped create a Tony Hawk brand that boasts a billion-dollar video game franchise and many successful businesses, including Birdhouse Skateboards, Hawk Clothing, and the Tony Hawk Signature Series sporting goods and toys. His video game series has surpassed $1.4 billion in sales with the most-recent version, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5, released in fall 2015.

A savvy social networking marketer, Hawk’s fan base numbers in the millions on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. He regularly appears on television and in films, and he hosts a show on Sirius XM radio’s Faction channel. His autobiography, “HAWK—Occupation: Skateboarder,” was a New York Times bestseller, and in 2010 Wiley Publishing released “How Did I Get Here? The Ascent of an Unlikely CEO.” In 2012, in partnership with Google, Hawk’s film production company, 900 Films, launched the RIDE Channel and has grown into the most-popular skateboard destination on YouTube.

Additionally, the Tony Hawk Foundation has donated more than $5.5 million to 572 skate park projects throughout the U.S. The foundation helps finance public skate parks in low-income areas in all 50 states and other parts of the world through its partnership with Skateistan. Skate parks that received financial assistance from the Tony Hawk Foundation currently serve more than five million children annually.

The Nelson Rusche Distinguished Lecture Series is free and open to the public. A private reception will be held prior to the lecture at 6 p.m. To purchase reception tickets, contact SFA’s Office of Development at (936) 468-5406, or email April Smith, associate director of development, at alsmith@sfasu.edu. Reception tickets cost $150.

For more information about the lecture series, visit sfasu.edu/rusche.

By Kasi Dickerson, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music and its Friends of Music Concert Series will present guest artist Brian Perry performing a double bass recital with SFA pianist Hyun Ji Oh at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4, in the Music Recital Hall on the SFA campus.

One of the newest members of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Perry is an adjunct associate professor in the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. He was also a member of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra for nine seasons.

Perry will present the program “Songs and Dances on Double Bass,” which features works that explore either the “singing” quality of the bass or that consist of music inspired by Baroque dance forms.

“Both styles serve to highlight the possibilities of the double bass beyond the orchestra and in a solo setting, as both a rhythmic and rich-sounding instrument,” Perry said.

Among the pieces to be performed is Johannes Brahms’ Allegro non troppo from Sonata No. 1 in E minor for cello and piano.

“Originally written for cello, this work has a rich, low-singing quality that works quite well when played on the double bass,” Perry said. “In this transcription, I’ve slightly altered some of the octaves in Lucas Drew’s arrangement to better suit the range of the bass while also trying to sound as much as possible like the original work. I enjoy working on transcriptions (pieces not originally written for my instrument) for the bass, and this is one of several on the program.”

Perry will also perform Claude Debussy’s “Beau Soir,” which he describes as “quintessential impressionist writing, both in tonality and expression.”

Concerto No 2 in A minor by Giovanni Bottesini is the only work on the program originally written for the double bass. Bottesini was also a skilled opera conductor and friend of Giuseppe Verdi, for whom Bottesini conducted the premiere of his opera “Aida” to mark the opening of the Suez Canal, Perry explained.

“He frequently borrowed themes from various operas and composed fantasias he often performed between acts or in recitals to the delight of audiences everywhere,” Perry said.

The work features the singing quality of the bass while also demonstrating the virtuosity of the performer by traversing the entire length of the instrument, a skill Bottesini was known for in his performances.

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.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music will present a guest-faculty piano and strings trio recital at 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The trio includes violinist Minhee Bae, a doctor of musical arts candidate at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; cellist Jinsun Choi, also a doctor of musical arts candidate at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; and SFA collaborative pianist Hyun Ji Oh.

Among the works featured on the program are Piano Trio in G major by Claude Debussy; “Café Music” by Paul Schoenfield; and Trio in G minor, Op. 15 by Bedřich Smetana.

A native of Seoul, South Korea, Bae earned a bachelor’s degree from Seoul National University and a master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She has been invited as a ‘rising star’ to the Music Alp Festival in France and has participated in the Spoleto Festival USA, Pacific Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and Great Mountains Music Festival. She has played with the Kentucky Symphony and Cincinnati Symphony and is currently associate concertmaster of Plano Symphony. She occasionally plays with the Irving Symphony and the Fort Worth Symphony. She will join the Dallas Opera in its 2019 season.

Choi received his Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music and his Bachelor of Music degree at the Korea National University of Arts. He has played in various orchestras including the Urasian Philharmonic, Ditto Orchestra, Kyung-Gi Symphony Orchestra, Won-Ju Symphony Orchestra and the Korean Headquarter Army Band for which he was the principle cellist in 2008-09. An active performer, Choi has performed across Asia, the United States and Europe. Festival performances include at Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson, Texas, the Tongyeong Music Festival in South Korea, Atlantic Music Festival in Maine, Great Mountains Music Festival in South Korea and the Euro Music Festival in Leipzig, Germany.

Oh made her orchestral debut with the Southern Illinois Symphony Orchestra at Shryock Hall in 2009. She has participated in numerous festivals, including the Art of Piano at the College Conservatory of Music, summer piano camp at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and the 2010 International Keyboard Institute & Festival. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory 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.