Everything Nac

The North Forney High School Indoor Percussion Ensemble will present a performance of the show “End of Days” at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23, in Cole Concert Hall on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University.

A 5A school, North Forney High School opened in 2009 with only freshman and sophomore students. Jim Gist, the school’s percussion director, began the program, which has experienced much growth and earned the reputation as a premier percussion program in the North Texas area.

In addition to the group’s performance at SFA, the ensemble’s 2018 spring tour includes a performance at Tyler Junior College and culminates with the WGI Houston Regional competition at Klein Oak High School in Spring.

The group is competing in the 2018 season with show “End of Days,” which reflects on the tumultuous events surrounding the end times as told in the Book of Revelations.

“The number seven is significant in the program, as it is in Revelations, including the pulse of much of the program being in seven and the seventh seal being broken as heard in a subtle bass drum roll,” Gist explains. “The armies marching into the Battle of Armageddon, victorious scenes of redemption, and the final judgment as described in Revelations can all be heard and felt through the musical imagery.”

The program begins with Modest Mussorgsky’s mysterious “Night on Bald Mountain” and transitions to Jacob Remington’s “Prelude to Paradise.” The final victory is portrayed by Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 Movement 5, also known as “The Resurrection Symphony.”

Admission to the concert is free.

The North Forney Indoor Percussion Ensemble competed in the North Texas Colorguard Association circuit during the spring 2017 season. During its first year of competition, the North Forney Ensemble was promoted twice to a higher classification and earned first place at every contest the group entered. At the finals championship, North Forney earned the highest percussion score in NTCA history with a 93.5.

For more information, contact Dr. Brad Meyer, director of percussion studies for the SFA School of Music, at meyerbe@sfasu.edu.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre will present the full-length play “Antigone in New York” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23, and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, in the Downstage Theatre on the SFA campus.

“Antigone in New York” is written by Janusz Glowacki. Play translation is by Glowacki and Joan Torres.

Directed by Plano senior Cecily Maucieri, the play is loosely based off the Greek tragedy “Antigone” and centers on the character Anita, a homeless woman who is searching for her boyfriend, Paulie, according to Maucieri. Anita ends up enlisting two Eastern European refugees to help her find Paulie.

The cast includes Palestine senior Olivia Santone as Anita; Pearland junior EJ Villanueva as the Policeman; Lufkin senior Jacob Carr as Sasha; Leander freshman Zach Loveday as Flea; and Tyler sophomore Holden Guinn as Paulie.

The production staff includes Jamie Carroll, Dallas sophomore, as stage manager; Connor Morrison, Princeton senior, assistant stage manager; Katie Irwin, Arlington sophomore, assistant director; Isabel McNeil, Katy junior, scenic designer; Anais Saenz, Houston senior, costume, makeup and hair designer; Kamron Key, Frisco sophomore, lighting designer; and Jessica Tinker-Akers, Marshall graduate student, sound designer.

Faculty production advisor for “Antigone in New York” is Jack Heifner. The play is recommended for mature audiences.

The Downstage Theatre is located in the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive.

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

In celebration of International Women’s Day, Dr. Heather Olson Beal, associate professor in Stephen F. Austin State University’s Department of Secondary Education and Educational Leadership, is hosting the second teach-in from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. March 8 in the Wyatt Room of the Steen Library on the university campus.

SFA faculty and staff as well as community members will offer 30-minute sessions on topics such as body image, professional profiling, bias, intersectional feminism and more.

“Gender inequality is a problem at all levels and in academia,” Olson Beal said. “As faculty, staff and community members and students, we wrestle with difficult and important issues. Then, we act to try to improve our worlds.”

This event is free and open to the SFA and Nacogdoches communities. ID scanners will be available for SFA students who are eligible to receive points for attendance.

For more information, visit facebook.com/events/138873876914671/.

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

The Stephen F. Austin State University Observatory will host its next public viewing session 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, weather permitting, giving visitors the opportunity to see the night sky like they have never seen it before.

Opening its doors to the public periodically throughout the year, the observatory is home to over 15 telescopes, including one formerly used by NASA.

The sessions offer visitors “an opportunity to do what they can’t do at home, and that is see the nighttime sky,” said Dr. Norman Markworth, professor in the Department of Physics, Engineering, and Astronomy and director of the SFA Observatory.

Visitors will have the chance to view the facility’s 41- and 18-inch telescopes and can utilize 8-inch telescopes set up for public use.

Students from the SFA chapter of the Society of Physics Students will assist with use of the telescopes, while visitors receive a quick lesson in sky lore and view constellations and star groups.

Housed 11 miles north of Nacogdoches, the observatory was built in the mid-1970s and has aided in various research efforts. Among its equipment, the observatory boasts an 18-inch telescope originally used by NASA on the Marshall Islands in the 1960s to help find landing sites on the moon.

“The story I heard was NASA wasn’t going to pay to have it shipped back to the U.S.,” Markworth said. “They were going to throw it in the ocean. I don’t know what happened, but they were finally convinced to ship the telescope back, and it lives here now.”

Today, the telescope is primarily used for asteroid hunting, Markworth said. The department also has a 41-inch telescope, built by Markworth and the department, used predominately for variable star research, a 16-inch telescope in a roll-off roof observatory and several other telescopes.

The observatory is used for educational purposes, giving students a place to conduct research and hosting astronomy students several times a week.

“It’s my philosophy that we do what students want done,” Markworth said. “If they want to work on projects, we’ll see that we can do it.”

While the observatory is primarily used for research, viewing sessions are held throughout the year to give the public an opportunity to see what they might not be able to see at home.

“I think humans have always had a curiosity for what that stuff is up there,” Markworth said, “and the more prevalent technology is, the less people actually want to know about stuff in the sky. But if you tell them, they’re really curious. They want to know more.”

The event is free and open to students and visitors of all ages. For large group accommodations, email astro@sfasu.edu.

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