Everything Nac

Guest artists Miraslov Hristov and Chih-Long Hu will present a violin and piano recital at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 7, in Cole Concert Hall at Stephen F. Austin State University.

The performance is part of the SFA Friends of Music Concert Series and will showcase some of the great standard chamber works for violin and piano, including pieces from the Classical, Romantic, and 20th century periods, according to Jennifer Dalmas, associate professor of violin and viola in the SFA School of Music.

The program includes Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata for Piano and Violin, Op. 12, No. 1, which is the first sonata Beethoven wrote for violin, shortly after he arrived in Vienna, according to Dalmas.

“Although this sonata adheres to the Classical style, Beethoven strives to give the instruments a more equal partnership than seen in other classical sonatas, and there is a dramatic intensity that foreshadows his later works,” she explained.

Cesar Franck’s Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano is one of the most beloved of the genre and was composed as a wedding present for the great violinist Eugene Ysaye, Dalmas said.

Maurice Ravel’s fiery ‘Tzigane’ (“Gypsy”) will end the program. “Originally written for violin and piano, this piece features virtuosic displays from both performers, and will be an exciting conclusion to an exciting program,” Dalmas said.

As associate professor of violin at the University of Tennessee School of Music, Hristov is founder and co-director of the University of Tennessee School of Music’s Annual Violin Festival. He presents master classes and performs extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Latin America. Recent teaching awards include the 2014 Tennessee Music Teachers Association Teacher of the Year, the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts Outstanding Teacher Award, and the University of Tennessee School of Music’s Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award.

Hu performs extensively in Asia, Europe and America appearing as a concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. Named “Teacher of the Year” by the Tennessee Music Teachers Association, Hu is frequently invited to give lectures and master classes, as well as to judge international and national competitions. Hu is the artistic director of St. Andrews Piano Academy and Festival International (New Brunswick), as well as the New York International Piano Festival. Hu is Sandra G. Powell Endowed Professor of Piano at the University of Tennessee.
Hristov will present a violin master class at 2 p.m. that day in the Music Recital Hall. Hu will present a piano master class at 2 p.m. in Cole Concert Hall. These are open to the public. Both venues are located in the Tom and Peggy Wright Music Building, 2210 Alumni Drive.

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.

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 “Cuba and the Cameraman” at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

The film, written and directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Jon Alpert, depicts life in Cuba through Alpert’s lens for three struggling families over the course of 45 years. The journey takes viewers from the cautious optimism of the early 1970s to the harrowing 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union and the 2016 death of Fidel Castro, according to https://www.imdb.com.

A reviewer for The Hollywood Reporter said “Cuba and the Cameraman” is “a warm and engaging primer on a complex and controversial subject.” A columnist for the Houston Press wrote, “even under restrictions, he (Alpert) always finds something fascinating to show.”

The film is a Netflix Original and was first shown at the 74th Venice International Film Festival. It runs 113 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.

Working late night and weekend hours is predictable for theatre students for several weeks weeks leading up to presenting a play.

But the tiring work is also rewarding for students in the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre, especially when presenting a play like Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage’s “Sweat.”

“A production like ‘Sweat’ rehearses for five days a week for three and a half hours a night, plus one weekend day for five hours, for about three and a half to four weeks before going to into tech and opening,” explained Cleo House Jr., director of the School of theatre and the play’s director. “This is the time commitment made by student actors, directors and stage managers.”

Nottage’s “Sweat” won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play opens at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2, for a five-night run at SFA in what will be the play’s Texas premiere. It’s the story of working-class Pennsylvanians whose livelihoods are threatened by the sudden disappearance of long-held manufacturing jobs. Their story plays out in a local bar.

From building scenery to designing the lighting, costumes and props for the play, students have a hands-on approach to every job behind the scenes, House said.

“We have student light, projection, costume and props designers on this show,” House said. “The time commitment varies for each, but the amount of collaboration and detail that goes into making believable and artistically viable choices is quite painstaking. Our students work closely with faculty advisers to make sure they stay on track.”

For Ernesto Dominguez, senior theatre student from Del Rio, research began last summer for designing costumes for “Sweat.” Dominguez researched images of industrial steel workers wearing dark colors and learned about the area and time in which the play takes place in order to reflect the characters through their costumes. While the goal is to be finished with costumes by the first dress rehearsal, there are adjustments that are made up to opening night.

“We look at how the actors are moving – are they bending down, are they on the ground wrestling – to try and give them something that doesn’t restrict movement, especially to prevent tears or any wardrobe malfunctions,” he said.

Dominguez believes that authentically designed costumes help to define characters.

“They give an audience a better understanding of who the characters are,” he said. “Sometimes audiences aren’t even aware that a costume may give them an impression about a character.”

When describing what happens behind the scenes of a theatre production, Richmond senior Daniel Hicks says, “it takes a village to put on a production.” As Stan, the bartender in “Sweat,” Hicks said knowledge of “bar culture” was important for his character development. Just the logistics alone can be overwhelming. But properly executing those can make the difference between an authentic “bar scene” that is believable and one that misses the mark.

“You have to keep track of where glasses are and who is drinking what,” he said. “You have to make sure you have the props you need to do bar business, like restocking nuts.”

Those are the little details. More important to him is the character work that goes behind becoming “a 51-year-old limping bartender in Reading, Pennsylvania.”

“The research alone takes a long time, and if you stop at any point, just because you think you are there, you’ve lost the battle,” he said. “It’s an art of dedication.”

Being a bartender himself, Hick found using bar etiquette an easy adaptation. But he also worked on his accent and the limp his character has. “Learning where the limp stems from and how my body should compensate for it has been a challenge,” he said.

Co-lighting designer Mia Lindemann, a senior theatre student from Prosper, said lighting provides a subtle way of helping to tell the play’s story.

“A saying I’ve heard is that people don’t notice lighting or sound or anything tech-wise in a play unless it’s bad,” she said. “If the lighting is good, you’re not going to question it; it happens seamlessly with the story and it helps reveal things about the characters. It’s more of a feeling that is created with lighting and less of a noticeable thing.”

Lindemann researched bar images looking for a “homey, amber-lit bar with a feeling of camaraderie,” for the early bar scenes. “We were going for a more blue-collar, working-class bar,” she said.

The play takes place in separate timeframes – in 2000 and in 2008. As such, the bar has a more homey feel in 2000, whereas in 2008, the bar scene get a “cooler, more updated look,” Lindemann said. “It becomes more modern and gets a little colder feeling, because it has changed; it’s new, and it’s a little more high-class than what it used to be.”

The positioning and movement of the characters on stage to tell the play’s story and achieve the desired dramatic effect can be a meticulous process, especially when scenes that involve fighting or fast-paced movement come into play.

“In rehearsal, I initially try to listen to what the script is telling me as it relates to blocking and staging,” House said. “There’s a certain rhythm to the script, and I’m trying to set the actors up in such a way that their impulses and my concept can merge.

“Our play also has an intense fight scene,” he added. “This requires significant work with our fight choreographer, Dr. Slade Billew. This is an interesting collaboration between myself, the actors and Billew, because while he’s creating this event, it must still exist within the rules and storyline that we’ve established up to that point, in addition to being safe and repeatable for the actors.”

Change and adaptation on stage and behind the scenes are constants in live theatre, according to House.

“Each actor brings a different level of experience, so as a director, you must navigate that,” House said. “Not everyone has the same needs or works in the same way. It’s a constant dance – give and take – that ultimately becomes a collaboration toward a singular directorial vision.”

“Sweat” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, Oct. 2 through 6, in W.M. Turner Auditorium in the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive, on the SFA campus. Because of its themes, “Sweat” is recommended for age 13 and up.

Single tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and $7.50 for youth. Tickets for SFA students are $5. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.theatre.sfasu.edu.

Representatives from the East Texas Food Bank in Tyler recently visited Stephen F. Austin State University to kick off a six-week Cooking Matters program in Nacogdoches.

This is the fourth year SFA’s School of Human Sciences has partnered with the food bank to provide this informative and interactive program to the community. Justin Pelham, food, nutrition and dietetics clinical instructor at SFA, is using this program as a class project to provide an opportunity for students to showcase their skills in a real-world setting.

“My intention for the SFA community nutrition course is providing real-world application to our students by plugging them in to relevant outreach events in East Texas,” Pelham said. “These opportunities enhance each student’s learning experience while working with underserved populations in our community, thus making a significant impact in the student’s lives well past their undergraduate years at SFA.”

Kinsey Jeffers, food bank nutrition education programs manager, and Brandi Gouldthorpe, SFA alumna and nutrition education specialist, met with a group of SFA students to outline the food bank’s mission and services, as well as discuss hunger insecurities families in the area may encounter. The food bank is a nonprofit organization that distributes food to more than 200 partner agencies in an effort to feed children, the working poor and senior citizens throughout 26 counties in East Texas.

Jeffers and Gouldthorpe also provided students with an overview of the Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters program, which teaches families at risk of hunger how to get more food for their money and better nourishment.

“The East Texas Food Bank has and continues to be a crucial organization providing our community nutrition students more hands-on learning and outreach in Nacogdoches,” Pelham said. “Students will be showcasing their leadership capacity among various target populations and practicing their communication skills with the public.”

Cooking Matters classes will begin Oct. 8 and continue each Monday through Nov. 12. Classes will begin at 4 p.m. with a 30-minute nutrition education segment in the Human Sciences North Building, Room 102 on the SFA campus. The cooking segment will take place from approximately 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Human Sciences North Building, Room 211.

This year, the program is open to the Nacogdoches community, specifically those connected with the Helping Other People Eat organization.

The program is divided into lessons with the first four classes comprising 30-minute lectures and an hour of cooking. SFA students will purchase the needed groceries, and participants will be able to take the food home after the demonstration. The fifth lesson will be at a local grocery story and include games, food comparisons, a budgeting exercise and more. The final lesson is a celebration and potluck.

Additionally, the East Texas Food Bank also is piloting an afterschool curriculum with the Nacogdoches Boys and Girls Club. Five SFA students each week not assigned to the Cooking Matters program will assist Gouldthorpe with various nutrition and physical activities. The program will coincide with the Cooking Matters program.

To sign up for Cooking Matters, contact Pelham at (936) 468-5892 or pelhamjd@sfasu.edu.

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