Everything Nac

The combined choirs at Stephen F. Austin State University along with the Orchestra of the Pines will perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem KV 626 (completed by Franz Xaver Süssmayr) at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 4, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.

Conducted by Dr. Michael Murphy, this masterwork concert will feature SFA’s A Cappella Choir, Murphy, director; Choral Union and Women’s Choir, Dr. Tod Fish, director; and the Orchestra of the Pines, Dr. Gene H. Moon, director.

The performance will also feature faculty soloists Debbie Berry, Nita Hudson, Dr. Richard Berry and Dr. Chris Turner from the School of Music.

“This concert features two popular choral-orchestral works from the Classical era,” said Murphy, director of choral activities in the School of Music. “Perhaps no other work garners more mystery and intrigue than Mozart’s unfinished Requiem in D minor, K. 626. Many strange events and coincidences surrounding the commission and creation of the Requiem and Mozart’s untimely death at age 35 has provided overly dramatic license for rumors and conspiracy theories for staged productions and movies alike,” he added.

Franz Joseph Haydn’s Te Deum was composed in the same decade as the unfinished Requiem and Mozart’s death. The Te Deum was composed for the music lover and amateur singer, Empress Marie Therese.

The combined choirs and orchestra will perform Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, and the A Cappella Choir and chamber orchestra will perform Haydn’s Te Deum.

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.

A team of mass communication, art and marketing students from Stephen F. Austin State University recently won Best Media Plan at the American Advertising Federation’s National Student Advertising Competition in Corpus Christi.

This award recognizes students for their creative use of a $10 million budget in building an advertising campaign for Ocean Spray Cranberries. Since the fall semester, students have built the campaign to increase brand relevance among millennials between the ages of 24 and 34 by conducting brand and target-market research, developing “Own the Ocean” as their central theme and strategy, budgeting and creating a media plan.

During the course of the project, Tyler Fisher, graduate student from Spring, Texas, served in an advisory role to offer students advice, feedback and support.

“As a second-year participant, winning an award means a lot. I know these students have worked hard to come up with something the judges will enjoy. It is a great accomplishment to be recognized for our hard work,” Fisher said.

Their award-winning media plan focused on social media and digital efforts and included test markets to evaluate which messages, tactics, strategies and locations would most effectively reach millennials.

This project was part of an advertising course, and Dr. Seth Bradshaw, assistant professor in the Department of Mass Communication; Dr. Marlene Kahla, professor in the Department of Management and Marketing; and Peter Andrew, professor in the School of Art, worked alongside students on this endeavor.

“I have learned great communication skills from participating in this class and contest,” Fisher said. “I have made friends and connections from this experience, and I urge students who wish to have a career in advertising to take this class. The American Advertising Federation is a prestigious organization, and this class is essential to advancing your education and knowledge of the advertising field.”

SFA competed against schools such as the University of Texas at Austin, University of Houston, Texas Tech University and more. At the competition, teams of four students presented their class’ campaign in a 20-minute presentation.

According to the organization’s website, this premier competition “provides more than 2,000 college students the real-world experience of creating a strategic advertising/marketing/media campaign for a corporate client.”

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

Fifteen Stephen F. Austin State University seniors from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry will participate in a research symposium beginning at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the Math Building.

“In our undergraduate research experience, all students pick a research topic and faculty mentor according to their personal interest and career goals,” said Dr. Michele Harris, professor and assistant chair of the department.

Students are required to engage in research for a minimum of two semesters, presenting their findings at the symposium to a group of alumni evaluators. The top three presenters will receive a scholarship of $100.

A panel of alumni will answer career questions from current students after the presentations, followed by student award recognition and a dinner.

Topics to be presented include the development of new therapy for cancer treatment, synthesis of sensors for detecting toxins in water and the development of active-learning, inquiry-based laboratories.

“Mentored undergraduate research provides students a transformative learning experience and assists students in developing professional skills needed for their future careers,” Harris said.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Harris at mharris@sfasu.edu.

By Joanna Armstrong, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

A concert by the Contemporary Ensemble at Stephen F. Austin State University, originally scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 26, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus, has been canceled.

For more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407.