Everything Nac

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art and the Friends of the Visual Arts will present a free, one-night screening of the documentary “Everybody Street” at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

According to information at everybodystreet.net, the film “illuminates the lives and work of New York’s iconic street photographers and the incomparable city that has inspired them for decades. The documentary pays tribute to the spirit of street photography through a cinematic exploration of New York City and captures the visceral rush, singular perseverance and at times immediate danger customary to these artists.”

Featured photographers include Bruce Davidson, Elliott Erwitt, Jill Freedman, Bruce Gilden, Joel Meyerowitz, Rebecca Lepkoff, Mary Ellen Mark, Jeff Mermelstein, Clayton Patterson, Ricky Powell, Jamel Shabazz, Martha Cooper and Boogie, with historians Max Kozloff and Luc Sante.

“Everybody Street” is directed by Cheryl Dunn. The film depicts some nudity and gun violence, and profanity is used throughout. Run time is one hour and 23 minutes.

This screening is part of the School of Art’s monthly Friday Film Series and is sponsored in part by William Arscott, Nacogdoches Film Festival, Karon Gillespie, Mike Mollot, David Kulhavy, John and Kristen Heath, Galleria Z, Jill Carrington, Jean Stephens, Jim and Mary Neal, Richard Orton, Nacogdoches Junior Forum and Main Street Nacogdoches.

The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre will present Deborah Brevoort’s full-length play “The Women of Lockerbie” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Nov. 3, in the Downstage Theatre on the SFA campus.

Directed by Lewisville senior Marie Phillips, the play takes place seven years after the tragic Pan Am 103 crash. Americans Bill and Madeline Livingston visit the site in Lockerbie, Scotland, to attend a vigil and mourn the death of their son, Adam. In an act of desperation, Madeline searches for her son’s missing remains as Bill searches for Madeline, explains Phillips. That same night, the women of Lockerbie take on the American government in hopes of obtaining the clothes of the victims, washing them and returning them to the families in an effort called The Laundry Project.

The cast includes Wichita Falls senior Travis Brasher as Bill Livingston; Frisco senior Aubrey Moore as Olive Allison; Houston senior Anais Saenz as Madeline Livingston; Baytown freshman Triston Haq as George Jones; Austin senior Abigail Junk as Hattie; and Austin senior Sarah Loveday, Winnsboro freshman Sarah Anne Ramsey, Katy freshman Avery Connor and Copperas Cove sophomore Bailey Van Hecke in the chorus.

The production staff includes Ash Whiting, Houston sophomore, as stage manager; Kiara Hawkins, Tyler Junior, assistant director; Yair Zarate, Austin junior, assistant stage manager; Katie Irwin, Arlington junior, scenic designer; Savannah Lewis, Malakoff sophomore, costume designer; Kamron Key, Frisco junior, lighting designer; Cameron Wall, El Campo sophomore, sound designer; Drake Combs, Austin senior, makeup designer; Tyler Canada, Los Angeles senior, properties manager; and Alexis Grusecki, Baytown sophomore, assistant properties manager.

Phillips has directed and acted in, designed for and served as dramaturg for more than a dozen SFA productions. She is a member of the Student Productions Advisory Committee, Alpha Psi Omega and Improv Strikes Back, and she is a member of the Turner Auditorium technical crew.

Faculty production advisor for “The Women of Lockerbie” is Scott Shattuck.

Tickets are $6. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit theatre.sfasu.edu.

The Madrigal Singers at Stephen F. Austin State University will present “Music of the Heart,” a program featuring choral music of love and passion, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The concert will include works by Morten Lauridsen, Cyrillus Kreek, Clément Janequin, Thomas Morley, John Dowland, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Jacques Arcadelt and others.

Lauridsen, who has been professor of composition for more than 40 years at the University of Southern California, is the most frequently performed American choral composer in modern history, according to Dr. Michael Murphy, director of choral activities at SFA and the Madrigal Singers’ conductor.

“His ‘Four Madrigals on Renaissance Texts’ features a variety of mixed meters, tempos and harmonic structures for choir and flute, bassoon, violin, cello and percussion,” Murphy explained. This work was written for one of Murphy’s major professors, Rodney Eichenberger.

Janequin, a famous Renaissance French song composer, wrote the programmatic piece “Le Chant des oiseaux,” or “The song of the birds,” to prominently feature onomatopoeic sounds that feature lengthy passages of bird-like calls and chirps, Murphy said.

This concert will feature the world premiere of Murphy’s own “Ubi Caritas.”

“This work synthesizes chant inspired melodies, unmetered and metered sections with tone clusters and traditional harmony,” Murphy said. “The work features the text that typically commemorates Christ’s lesson in charity, humility and friendship.”

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.

Stephen F. Austin State University music faculty member Nathan Nabb and collaborative accompanist Hyun Ji Oh will present a saxophone and piano recital at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 29, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

A feature of the SFA Friends of Music Concert Series, the recital will showcase pieces that are either originally written or arranged for string instruments and are by French composers in the late 19th or early 20th centuries, according to Nabb, professor of saxophone in the School of Music. The performance also serves as preparation for an upcoming recording by Nabb and Oh of the works.

The program includes Sonata in A by Cesar Franck.

“Originally for violin, this work is dedicated to famed Belgian violinist Eugene Ysaye,” Nabb said. “In my opinion, this is one of the truly great works of chamber music. It has beautiful harmonies and melodies, demanding technical passages, and delicate interplay between the violin (saxophone) and piano.” The arrangement for saxophone and piano was set by French saxophonist Jean-Yves Fourmeau.

The program also includes Sonate posthume by Maurice Ravel. Written in 1897, it is an early work by the famous French composer and pianist, written when he was only 22.

“Yet, it is unmistakably Ravel,” Nabb said. “It’s a beautifully lyrical work. This is my first performance of this wonderful piece, and I recently completed the arrangement.”

The performance also features Sonate in C# by Fernande Decruck.

“Though it fell out of favor after the composer’s death, this piece has become very popular in the last 16 years, since the release of Calude Delangle’s A la française recording,” Nabb said. “Nick Bissen arranged the version performed on this concert. It takes much of the extended range published in the viola version of this work and incorporates it into the version for saxophone.” Bissen teaches saxophone in the School of Music.

Concert 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.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s dance program will showcase senior choreographic works during its production of Danceworks: “You”phoria, which premieres at 7 p.m. Nov. 14 in the HPE Complex Dance Studio, Room 201, on the university’s campus.

Additional showings are scheduled for 7 p.m. Nov. 15 and 16. Admission is free for SFA students. Tickets cost $5 for non-SFA students and children; $8 for faculty, staff and senior citizens; and $10 for general admission. Tickets can be purchased at the door.

The production will feature seven senior choreographic works focused on the theme “You”phoria, which plays on the idea of pleasure, excitement and the intense feeling of well-being.

Marcus Williams, dance performance and choreography major from Lufkin, said this experience has helped him learn the creative process behind productions.

“The ups and downs in our pieces represent our personal feelings of how we experience ups and downs in life,” Williams said. “Our pieces have a variety of topics, such as love and neurological disorders.”

Danceworks serves as the capstone course for dance seniors. During the summer, seniors research concepts for their works and rehearsals begin on the first day of the semester.

Heather Samuelson, dance program co-coordinator and assistant professor, explained the production teaches students a variety of skills other than choreography. For example, students learn how to cast a show, promote a performance, design lighting, select costumes and edit music.

Modern and contemporary dance are the main styles that will be featured during this production, along with jazz and hip-hop.

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