Everything Nac

Stephen F. Austin State University students in the School of Human Sciences recently met with Christina Balduf and Kinsey Jeffers, representatives from the East Texas Food Bank, to kick off a six-week Cooking Matters program.

During a class presentation, Balduf outlined the food bank’s mission and services as well as discussed hunger insecurities families in the area 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 seniors throughout 26 counties in East Texas.

Balduf also provided students 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.

This is the third year SFA community nutrition classes have partnered with the East Texas Food Bank to provide this program. Justin Pelham, food, nutrition and dietetics clinical instructor at SFA, is using this program as a class project.

“The Cooking Matters program provides real-world experience at the undergraduate level,” Pelham said. “Students are able to showcase their expertise from the nutrition education standpoint in addition to adequate cooking preparation for meals on a budget.”

Students will take on various roles during the program such as marketers, chef instructor, nutrition specialist, grocery shopper and class manager.

“Students enjoy active learning with hands-on programs that extend beyond the general lecture classroom,” Pelham said. “Students can make a community impact and take away personal experiences they can apply toward their résumés and future jobs.”

Cooking Matters classes will begin Oct. 9 and continue each Monday through Nov. 13. Classes will begin at 4 p.m. with a 30-minute nutrition education portion in the Human Sciences Building North, Room 204. The cooking segment will take place from around 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Human Sciences Building North, Room 211.

This year, the program is open to SFA faculty and staff members who could benefit from nutrition education and enhanced cooking skills. Pelham explained the class has partnered with SFA Campus Recreation’s Employee Wellness program so participants can count this program toward their wellness hours.

The program is divided into lessons with the first four classes comprising one-hour 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.

To sign up for Cooking Matters, contact Jessica Waguespack, Employee Wellness coordinator, at (936) 468-6056 or waguespaja@sfasu.edu.

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

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art and the Friends of the Visual Arts will present a free, one-night screening of “Landfill Harmonic” at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

“Landfill Harmonic” follows the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a Paraguayan musical group that plays instruments made entirely out of garbage. When their story goes viral, the orchestra is catapulted into the global spotlight.

Under the guidance of idealistic music director Favio Chavez, the orchestra must navigate a strange new world of arenas and sold-out concerts. However, when a natural disaster strikes their community, Chavez must find a way to keep the orchestra intact and provide a source of hope for their town, according to the website landfillharmonicmovie.com, which also describes the documentary as “a testimony to the transformative power of music and the resilience of the human spirit.”

The 84-minute film is directed by Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley and produced by Juliana Penaranda. The 2015 film won numerous awards at film festivals throughout the nation, including best documentary, best music documentary, best family friendly feature and several audience awards.

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, Brad Maule, 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 Omojo Percussion Duo will perform a guest recital at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, in Cole Concert Hall on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University as part of the SFA School of Music’s Calliope Concert Series.

Oliver Molina and Joe W. Moore III will perform duo works by living composers. Their goal is to highlight living composers that are composing exciting and interesting works for the percussion duo idiom.

Moore’s four-movement “Secrets We Keep” was inspired by “the secret truths we all have but don’t always share,” the composer said. Each movement is individually titled: Whispering – speaking under your breath; Concealing – hidden agenda; Withholding – half-truths; Revealing – coming to light.

“Ultimately, my goal was to write an intimate work of art that both the performers and the audience would enjoy on stage and in their seats, respectively,” Moore said.

Also featured is Ivan Trevino’s “Hold Fast,” a vibraphone and drum set duo commissioned by a consortium of 28 percussionists and colleges across the U.S.

“The piece is groove-heavy and technically very challenging,” Trevino said, “requiring each player to hold steady and be a foundation for the other.”

Moore is assistant professor of percussion at the University of Texas Rio Grand Valley. Prior, he was director of percussion studies at the University of Texas Brownsville. He has performed with the Rio Bravo Percussion Ensemble during their showcase performance at the 2015 Texas Music Educators Association Convention. He has performed in Ukemerge and Kaunas, Lithuania, as a soloist with the UCF Percussion Ensemble during the Ukemerge Annual Percussion Festival. Moore has also held performing positions at Walt Disney World, as a sub-list member of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, and as a member of the Rhythm-N-Blue Drum Line for the Orlando Magic NBA team.

Molina is an assistant professor of music and assistant director of bands at Northwestern State University of Louisiana. He is a doctoral candidate in percussion performance and pedagogy at the University of Iowa. Molina has worked with and arranged for many band programs throughout the United States. He has performed with the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps and the Southwind Drum and Bugle Corps, and has worked with the front ensembles for the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps from Dubuque, Iowa, and the Magic Drum and Bugle Corps from Orlando, Florida. Before teaching at NSU, Molina was the associate band director at University High School in Orlando.

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.

Houston bassist Dennis Whittaker will present a guest artist recital at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, in the Music Recital Hall in the Wright Music Building on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University.

His performance is a feature of the SFA School of Music’s Calliope Concert Series and will highlight works by Francois Rabbath, J.S. Bach, Cesar Franck and other composers.

The program includes Rabbath’s “2 Miniatures” and “Breiz,” Bach’s Suite No 5 in B minor, and Franck’s Sonata in A Major. The recital works also include the Texas premiere of Andres Martin’s “Sueños” and Evan Premo’s “Artemis in the Oak Grove.”

Whittaker wears many hats as a professional bassist and educator. He is the principal double bassist for the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, is the bass teacher for the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, and is a bass pedagogy consultant. He has appeared on eight world premiere recordings with the Houston Grand Opera, various recordings with Houston artists, and on recordings as principal bass with the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy. He was the winner of the Gary Karr Foundation National Double Bass competition in 1987. He has performed recitals, concerts and master classes in Japan, China, Italy, Amsterdam, Germany, Switzerland, Los Angeles, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Texas and Louisiana.

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 Children’s Performing Arts Series at Stephen F. Austin State University will open its 2017-18 season on Friday, Oct. 13, with a performance of the Virginia Repertory Theatre’s “Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs.”

This musical adaptation of the classic Grimm’s fairy tale comes to life with a talented ensemble of actors and wonderful puppets, according to Diane Peterson, Fine Arts Box Office manager and director of the series.

“Follow along as Snow White meets her pint-sized friends, takes the apple from the Evil Queen, receives a kiss from the Prince, and lives happily ever after,” Peterson said. “This faithful rendition of the fable will inspire young audiences to read the original.”

“Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs” targets children in kindergarten through fifth grade. Performances are at 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. in W.M. Turner Auditorium, located in the Griffith Fine Arts Building on the SFA campus. Tickets are $7.50 for individuals and $6 per person for groups of 20 or more.

This presentation of “Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs,” based on the original story by the Brothers Grimm, is by Bruce Craig Miller and Ford Flannagan with lyrics by Bruce Craig Miller and music by Ron Barnett.

Presented by the SFA College of Fine Arts, the Children’s Performing Arts Series annually features five shows designed to entertain, educate and engage young audiences of all ages, according to Peterson. Study guides provide suggestions for pre- and post-performance activities and discussions for teachers to use in the classroom. A study guide for “Snow White” may be accessed at http://va-rep.org/tour/guides/snow_white.pdf.

Other upcoming CPAS performances include “A Christmas Carol” on Friday, Dec. 1; “Harriet Tubman & The Underground Railroad” on Thursday, Feb. 1; Super Scientific Circus on Wednesday, March 7; and “The Ugly Duckling” on Friday, April 27.

To order tickets, call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS. Visit the CPAS website at www.cpas.sfasu.edu for additional information.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music will present faculty member J.D. Salas performing a program titled “Muses and Dances” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3, in Cole Concert Hall in the Wright Music Building on the SFA campus.

Salas, associate professor of tuba and euphonium studies, said each program selection is meant to highlight the tuba’s ability to perform in several styles that are not commonly found in the repertoire.

“Many people think of the tuba as a ‘background’ instrument in the band or as the bass line to a polka or a march,” he said. “These recital selections each illustrate the beautiful tone and technical versatility of the instrument.”

Salas will collaborate with several musicians on the recital, including Dr. James Pitts, piano; Dr. Danny Chapa, euphonium; and Dr. Brad Meyer, Dr. Ben Tomlinson, and Spencer Jones, percussion.

The program features “Sweet Dances” by Elizabeth Raum, which is a work for unaccompanied tuba that looks to emulate several of the collections of dances composed by Johann Sebastian Bach “but in completely updated fashion,” Salas explained. Instead of traditional titles such as the Gavotte or Sarabande, Raum uses whimsical titles like “Blew Tango” or “Waltzn’ Matuba,” in addition to the jazz rock dance titled ” A Hard Knight’s Day.”

“Five Muses for Tuba and Piano” by John Stevens is a relatively new work in which Salas was part of the commissioning consortium with several other tuba performers and educators.

“This piece explores the vast range the tuba can perform, which is about five octaves,” he said. “Each movement depicts one of five of the nine muses found in Greek mythology: Euterope, song; Thalia, comedy; Melpomene, tragedy; Terpsichore, dance; and Erato, love.”

Also on the program, “Diversive Elements” by David Gillingham is a trio for tuba, euphonium and piano. It illustrates the complex rhythmic elements between the three instruments through five short movements.

The recital is the first of several events for the 12th annual Octubafest at SFA, Salas said. Octubafest is an event that occurs at many universities around the world seeking to highlight the tuba and euphonium for their solo and chamber repertoire. Other events in the series include guest artist performances by Andrew Hitz, tuba (formerly of the Boston Brass), on Oct. 9; Stephen Kunzer, tuba (professor of tuba/euphonium at OSU), on Oct. 27; the euphonium quartet fLOW on Oct. 11; and performances by the entire SFA Tuba-Euphonium Studio and the SFA Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble.

The recital is part of the School of Music’s Calliope Concert Series. 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.

Lufkin native Skylan Graham, senior accounting major at Stephen F. Austin State University, is the first student in the Rusche College of Business’ Schlief School of Accountancy to be awarded the prestigious Public Company Accounting Oversight Board scholarship.

“To be recognized by such an organization is an award in and of itself. This generous endowment to my education is such a blessing because of the financial relief it has given me,” Graham said. “I am passionate about accounting, and this recognition only serves to further drive me in my studies and career.”

The PCAOB scholarship program provides funding to encourage outstanding undergraduate and graduate students to pursue a career in auditing, according to the organization’s website.

Each year the PCAOB selects educational institutions and invites them to nominate a student recipient for the scholarship. The student must be enrolled in a bachelor’s or master’s program in accounting at a regionally accredited U.S. college or university; demonstrate interest and aptitude in accounting and auditing and high ethical standards; and not be a PCAOB employee, child or spouse.

Graham transferred to SFA from Angelina College and quickly adapted to college life. Currently, she works as associate auditor for Axley & Rode, LLP, a certified public accounting firm.

“At one point, I doubted if I was fit for college, but I decided to take the risk and quickly found myself at ease with my studies,” Graham said. “Every step of the way my professors from both Angelina College and SFA have encouraged me to set higher goals for myself and helped me see my potential. In fact, it was because of the nomination by the Schlief School of Accountancy that I was eligible for this scholarship.”

Dr. Kelly Noe, director of SFA’s Schlief School of Accountancy, has worked with Graham while she studied at Angelina College, and Noe served as Graham’s internship supervisor.

“Skylan was impressive from the start, and she has continued to perform at the highest level. She has maintained a 4.0 GPA while working close to full-time hours,” Noe said. “Her dedication and academic aptitude made her a great candidate for the scholarship.”

Graham is enrolled in SFA’s five-year master’s accounting program and hopes to graduate in December 2018 with a Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Professional Accountancy.

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