Everything Nac

Fourth graders from the Stephen F. Austin State University Charter School participated in a hands-on activity Friday when they visited SFA’s anthropology lab. During the activity, Dr. Karol Chandler-Ezell, SFA associate professor of anthropology, discussed the differences between prehistoric and modern human bone structure using skeletal replicas.

In addition, the students viewed a film about the lives of Native Americans, which they are studying in their Texas history class in preparation for Native American Heritage Month in November. Chandler-Ezell said that the connection between the university and the charter school allows these students to have access to resources and learning experiences at a young age.

Story by Emily Brown, marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

The Office of Multicultural Affairs at Stephen F. Austin State University will celebrate Native American Heritage Month in November with a special performance by the Keitos Native American Hoop Dancers.

The event will take place at noon Nov. 14 at the Baker Pattillo Student Center Plaza, located on the SFA campus. The event is free and open to the public.

“We want to recognize Native American Heritage Month by celebrating the culture of indigenous people of the Americas through education, music and dance,” Jalon Berry, assistant director of OMA, said.

The purpose of Native American Heritage Month is to acknowledge the significance of this population’s history, culture and contribution to this land.

Former U.S. President George H. W. Bush established the commemorative month in 1990. The celebration gives Native American people the opportunity to express their concerns and find solutions for building bridges of understanding and friendship in their local areas.

For more information, visit the OMA website at www.sfasu.edu/oma.

By Emily Brown, marketing communications specialist for Stephen F. Austin State University.

Center Stage Brass ensemble will perform at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11, in Cole Concert Hall on the Stephen F. Austin State University in conjunction with Brass Day at SFA. The recital is also part of the Friends of Music Concert Series.

Based in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, Center Stage Brass is dedicated to performing brass literature and promoting music education. The ensemble gives several recitals each year featuring standards in the repertoire as well as original arrangements and frequently plays in local church services and weddings. The group promotes music education with its members presenting clinics and master classes.

“Center Stage Brass is a perfect guest artist for students at SFA,” said Dr. J.D. Salas, associate professor of tuba and euphonium studies. “Each member of the group is not only an accomplished performer, but also a freelance educator in the metroplex. This is in keeping with SFA’s mission of producing artists/educators.”

Brass Day at SFA is an outreach event in which high school brass students work with SFA brass faculty to prepare for region and area auditions to qualify for the Texas All-State Bands. There will also be information for prospective music majors about the School of Music and its audition requirements for acceptance.

All-Region clinics for 2A through 4A schools will be at 1 p.m., and clinics for 5A and 6A schools will be at 2:30 p.m. SFA brass faculty will perform at 2 p.m. and will feature Dr. Jake Walburn, trumpet; Dr. Charles Gavin, horn; Dr. Deb Scott, trombone; Dr. Danny Chapa, euphonium; and Salas, tuba. The clinics and faculty concert are free of charge.

For more information about Brass Day, visit https://jdsalas.com

Tickets for the Center Stage concert 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. Student who pre-register for Brass Day will receive free admission. Registration deadline is Monday, Nov. 5.

All Brass Day events are located in the Tom and Peggy Wright Music Building, 2210 Alumni Drive.

The Friends of Music Concert Series at Stephen F. Austin State University will present “Remembrance: The Piano Quintets of Elgar and Shostakovich” at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

“The concert is presented in remembrance of World War I, which ended 100 years ago this month, on Nov. 11, 1918,” said Dr. Jennifer Dalmas, professor of violin and viola in the SFA School of Music.

The program showcases works by English composer Sir Edward William Elgar and Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich performed by guest artists Elisabeth Adkins, professor of violin at Texas Christian University, and her husband, Edward Newman, pianist with a private teaching studio in Fort Worth, along with Dr. Misha Galaganov, chair of strings and professor of viola at TCU.

Dalmas and her husband, Dr. Evgeni Raychev, cello instructor at SFA, will join the guest artists in the performance. The ensemble will perform the same program the following week at TCU.

Dalmas said the Elgar quintet was selected for the concert because it was actually written in the year WWI ended.

“It was first performed the following year, in May of 1919,” she said. “One of Elgar’s finest works, it is an expansive, wonderful piece with a wide range of colors and moods.”

The Shostakovich quintet was written in 1940, near the beginning of WWII.

“It is a powerful and moving piece composed in five movements, and it won the Stalin Prize in 1941,” Dalmas said.

The artists will conduct master classes with SFA string and piano students beginning at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3.

Adkins served as associate concertmaster of the National Symphony in Washington, D.C., before joining the music faculty at TCU. She continues her orchestral career as the concertmaster of the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra. She has appeared as concerto soloist for the Baltimore Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, the Maryland Symphony and the Seattle Symphony, as well as numerous appearances with the National Symphony. Since arriving in Fort Worth, she has performed concertos with the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra and the TCU Symphony. She and her husband have presented concerts at the Kennedy Center and the National Gallery.

Newman is a prizewinner in many major competitions, including the Robert Casadesus (Grand Prize, 1979), Gina Bachauer and University of Maryland International Competitions. He was a semifinalist in the 1981 Van Cliburn Competition. He has been featured soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Utah Symphony, and the Boston Pops, and with a number of European orchestras. As pianist of the American Chamber Players for 10 years, he appeared in concert throughout the United States. He has served on the faculties of The Catholic University of America, George Mason University, the Levine School of Music and the Washington Conservatory.

Galaganov’s solo and chamber music engagements have taken him to concert halls in the USA, Latin America, Europe and China. He has given lectures and master classes in major conservatories around the world, including Juilliard, Beijing Conservatory and Shanghai Conservatory. He has taught and performed in several European and American Festivals, such as EuroArts festival in Germany, Orlando Festival in Holland, Conservatory Music in the Mountains, Summit Music Festival, Wintergreen Music Festival and Mimir festival, among others.

The concert is a joint presentation of the College of Fine Arts and School of Music. Cole Concert Hall is located in the Tom and Peggy Wright Music Building, 2210 Alumni Drive.

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.

Photography students at Stephen F. Austin State University will sponsor a pop-up photo booth at the Día de los Muertos festival on Nov. 3 in downtown Nacogdoches.

Students will provide lighting and a backdrop set up outside the Cole Art Center, 320 E. Main St., to make professional quality portraits of costumed festival participants and print the photos on site.

Portraits will be $5 for one 8-by-10 inch or two 5-by-7 inch prints. The event is a fundraiser for the SFA Photo Club’s first juried exhibit of student photography, the Pineywoods Photography Exhibition, which opens on Nov. 14 in the Griffith Gallery. Photo booth proceeds from Dia de los Muertos will be used to pay for reception refreshments and student awards.

The photo booth and the festival run from 4-8 p.m.

Día de los Muertos Fiesta is a fun annual event with dance and music performances, art displays and booths selling food and arts and crafts, as well as a competitive costume contest. It is presented by the Nacogdoches Public Library and supported by the Nacogdoches Convention and Visitors Bureau.