Everything Nac

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music will present a faculty recital featuring Dr. Daniel Chapa, instructor of low brass at SFA, along with collaborative pianist Hyun Ji Oh at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

A feature of the Friends of Music Concert Series, the tuba and euphonium recital will include works by Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn and Philip Sparke, among others. The recital is the first of six Chapa will perform this semester at various universities, among them St. Mary’s University, University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas State University and Washington State University.

Theme and Variations on “Das Wandern” from Die Schöne Müllerin by Schubert features variations composed by Chapa, who will perform on euphonium on this piece.

“I composed each variation based on all of the popular theme and variations solos by Jean-Baptiste Arban, Arthur Pryor, Joseph De Luca, and others I had performed throughout my career,” Chapa said. “The simple harmonies and melodic line allowed me to focus on creating something that was technically challenging yet very listenable.”

Mendelssohn’s “Songs Without Words” showcases five of the composer’s works, which Chapa arranged for euphonium and piano. Each song is about three minutes in length and is in contrasting styles, making them great recital selections, he said.

“I first encountered this collection of pieces in one of my music theory classes during my time as a graduate student at the University of North Texas,” Chapa said. “After analyzing and listening to the beautiful melodic lines, I also noticed that most of the melodies stayed in the upper voice for the entirety of the song. This type of scoring made the pieces very easy to arrange and a lot of fun to play!”

Sparke’s “Song for Ina” was originally composed for euphonium solo with brass band, and it has since been arranged for a variety of instrumentations. This particular arrangement is for solo tuba and piano.

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 Friends of Music Concert Series at Stephen F. Austin State University will present Duo Karudan in a faculty-guest recital at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

Duo Karudan includes Christopher Ayer, professor of clarinet in the SFA School of Music, and his wife, Kae Hosoda-Ayer, who is associate professor of piano at Baylor University.

Ayer describes the recital as special because the program includes five pieces for clarinet and piano, all written by Canadian composers. Ayer grew up in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and attended Acadia University in Nova Scotia.

“I’ve always wanted to compile some pieces into a Canadian program to perform,” he said. “What makes this more exciting is that the recital is part of our preparation to record these works, which we will do next summer.”

Program works include Sonata by Leslie Mann; “Approaching the Spring Place” by Michael Miller; Sonata by Oscar Morawetz; “Passages” by Sid Robinovitch; and “Propulsions” by William Wallace.

Wallace, Robinovitch and Miller are all still living, and Miller, in fact, currently resides in Ayer’s hometown of Fredericton and has been active recently composing and performing.

“Obviously, very few people will be familiar with this music, so it’s a great chance to come out and hear some new things,” Ayer said. “I chose these works because I believe they are all accessible to musicians and non-musicians alike.”

“Approaching the Spring Place” will remind some listeners of the 20th century British traditions of composition in the vein of Gerald Finzi, Arthur Bliss and John Ireland, Ayer said. He described “Propulsions” as “a real barn-burner,” and the Morawetz and Mann Sonatas, while perhaps slightly more esoteric in nature, as “immediately arresting and interesting to listen to,” he said.

“I have a personal connection with the Mann Sonata as I performed it at my first appearance at the Canadian National Music Festival, an annual national music competition, representing the province of New Brunswick,” he said. “Leslie Mann was a clarinetist in the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra for many years, and he was the teacher of my first clarinet teacher, Jane Bowden. So, it’s very special for me to perform it and record it.”

The concert is a 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.

Dr. Brad Meyer, director of percussion studies at Stephen F. Austin State University, will perform works by Christopher Deane, Kevin Bobo, Alejandro Viñao and others in a faculty recital at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The recital is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Music and is a feature of the Friends of Music Concert Series.

The program features Meyer’s own “Seven Images,” which he composed after returning from Slovenia where he presented clinics and performed in the fall of 2012. While there, he sampled as much of the culture and art as time would allow, spending a good amount of time in the city of Ljubljana.

“One of the many places I explored was its Moderna Galerija (Museum of Modern Art), which is located next to Tivoli, a park similar to Manhattan’s Central Park,” Meyer said. “As soon as I entered the museum, I was immediately captivated by several large-scale installations. These installations stayed in my memory long after I had left Slovenia. Because of my fascination with the museum and its art, I decided to create seven snare drum solos based off of seven of the most memorable installations and pieces of art I witnessed.”

Deane’s “Dis Qui Etude” is a concert work for solo vibraphone that was commissioned by and is dedicated to Robert Parks. The piece is a study of the sound a vibraphonist can produce by using a special mallet made from a commercial paint stir stick that has been modified. This hybrid mallet has many surfaces with which to strike or scrape in order to produce musical sounds, according to the composer.

Bobo’s “Tantrum” is an experimental composition for solo snare drum that contains four main sections and explores a wide range of tone colors on the instrument through the use of specified playing zones, special techniques that create a wide variety of timbres, and the extreme use of dynamics, the composer explains.

Viñao’s piece “Khan Variation”s features eight rhythmic variations based on a traditional theme from Qawwali music as sung by Ali Kahn. Viñao developed each variation by exploring a different rhythmic and melodic aspect of the original theme.

Other program selections include “Suomineito” by Nebjša Jovan Živković and “Hymning” by Robert Honstein.

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.

SFA Gardens at Stephen F. Austin State University will host an orientation and training for volunteers from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Feb. 6, in the Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center at 2900 Raguet St. in Nacogdoches.

The training will prepare volunteers to present environmental education programs to area school children throughout the year. These programs introduce students to the natural world through hands-on activities.

“Area residents are invited to join some great people and gorgeous plants in the garden for the spring 2019 Garden Guide training class,” said Elyce Rodewald, SFA Gardens education coordinator.

During school programs at the SFA Gardens, students might explore the inside of a flower or learn about honeybee communication. They also may take a closer look at soil, investigate water quality or discover interesting native plants. Volunteers are not required to have advanced horticulture knowledge, but they do need a love and appreciation for energetic, curious children.

To register for the class, or for more information, contact Rodewald at (936) 468-1832 or email sfagardens@sfasu.edu.