Everything Nac

Rachel Clark of Lumberton, a harp student of Emily Mitchell in Stephen F. Austin State University’s Music Preparatory Division, has won first place honors in two distinguished music competitions in recent weeks.

Clark, an 18-year-old homeschooled student who will graduate high school in May, won first place in the 2017 Symphony of Southeast Texas Concerto Competition in Beaumont, performing G.F. Handel’s Concerto in B flat Major. This was an all-instrument competition where Clark competed against pianists, strings, winds and brass. As a result of this competition win, she will perform at the SOST Youth Education Concerts May 16 and 17 in Beaumont.

She also won first place in the high school division of the Milligan Harp Competition sponsored by the Greater Houston Chapter of the American Harp Society. She will receive a cash prize and will perform for the harp society on Sunday, May 7.

Clark, who is also an accomplished pianist, travels two-and-a-half hours each week to study harp with Mitchell. Her previous teacher was Charlotte Mizener, with whom she studied for five years in Beaumont.

“It is wonderful to teach a talented, dedicated student, who comes to lessons thoroughly prepared,” Mitchell said. “To watch her efforts pay off has been a great reward. Rachel has not only won these two competitions within weeks of each other, but she received scholarship offers from all universities she auditioned for study next fall.”

For information about the SFA School of Music’s Preparatory Division and for a complete listing of classes and types of instruction available, contact director Pat Barnett at (936) 468-1291 or visit www.music.sfasu.edu/prep

Stephen F. Austin State University theatre students traveling to Scotland’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer to produce the student-written play “Closed For Repairs” recently performed it before the playwright’s home audience at the Brazosport Center of Arts and Sciences.

The semi-autobiographical play by Bobby Britton, senior theatre student from Angleton, was performed as a fundraiser to help defray the students’ expenses for the trip. The Brazosport venue is where Britton got his start in community theatre, according to SFA Professor of Theatre Angela Bacarisse. SFA School of Theatre alumnus Wes Copeland is chairman of the board for Brazosport Center Stages.

“They were super generous, giving us the space and technical assistance as well as publicizing the event and running box office for us,” Bacarisse said.

Bacarisse and Slade Billew, assistant professor of acting/directing at SFA, will lead the group through its festival performances in Edinburgh.

Britton’s “jukebox-musical,” which he wrote last fall, is about a young man’s struggle to accept himself as it relates to his faith. It will be performed in Fringe Venue 45, the same theatre in which SFA students performed when they attended the festival in 2015. Bacarisse is hoping for similar educational experiences and opportunities for SFA’s theatre students again this year. Students Jason Trevino and Anais Saenz participated in 2015 and will return to the festival this year.

“They had an opportunity to see theatre companies from all over the world perform,” she said. “They were so excited to talk to each other and recommend the shows that they had seen. They also made friends with the students who were participating from other universities. It’s a great networking opportunity.”

Begun in 1947, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, one of several festivals that will take place in Edinburgh while the SFA students are there, has become the largest international theatre arts festival in the world. During festival season, which is three weeks in August, the International Festival, the Festival Fringe, jazz festival, art festival and book festival all take place in Edinburgh.

The festival’s advertising about the upcoming SFA production describes it as: “SFA student Bobby Britton’s semi-autobiographical play leads us on a young man’s journey to discover his personal truth in a conservative Texas town. Blending honest dialogue, contemporary songs, and powerful movement, this ensemble-driven piece takes on issues of identity and acceptance in the Bible belt. As the play moves through moments of intense despair and transcendent joy, performers use their bodies and voices to create the world of small town America, exploring the realities of feeling alone in the Lone Star State. The play is intended for mature audiences.”

As a company, the students are responsible for venue rental fees, travel, equipment rental, and publicity and marketing, and fundraising efforts are important to the success of the trip, Bacarisse said. Students house manage, run the lighting and soundboards and stage-manage for their performances. The total cost per student is approximately $5,000, which includes airfare and room and board.

“We are so grateful for everyone who supports the arts and our students,” she said. “Allowing them the opportunity to tour a show, perform abroad and learn more about our global community is a great gift.”

Tax-exempt donations for the trip can be made at sfasu.edu/giving by clicking on the “give online” tab and writing “Scotland trip” for special instructions.

The Orchestra of the Pines at Stephen F. Austin State University will present the final round of the annual Concerto/Aria Competition at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 6, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus. The event is open to the public, and admission is free.

Each year, the SFA orchestra program hosts a concerto/aria competition inviting students to perform and vie for a spot as guest artist with the orchestra in the next concert season.

“The invitation as guest soloist is highly sought after and a very unique, sometimes once-in-a-lifetime experience for young musicians,” said Gene H. Moon, director of orchestras at SFA. The competition highlights the most outstanding musicians in the School of Music, he added.

Prior to Thursday’s event, each area of the School of Music held its own semi-final rounds, and each was allowed to move three finalists to the final round. The finalists are Carlos Prothow, trombone; Lingxiao Guo, piano; Scott Augustine, saxophone; Julie Moore, mezzo-soprano; Payton Andrews, violin; Tyler Thormählen, horn; Gary Jones and Cesar Montelongo, clarinets; Amanda Sheriff, soprano; Danny Chavera, tuba; Preston Patterson, viola; Teresa Powell, flute; and Juan Garza, baritone.

“The evening presents amazing musicianship,” Moon said. “The finalists perform at the highest caliber and truly show the phenomenal character of our School of Music.”

The concert is a presentation of the College of Fine Arts and School of Music. Cole Concert Hall is located in the Tom and Peggy Wright Music Building. For more information, contact the School of Music at (936) 468-4602.

Student and faculty voices will be featured when the A Cappella Choir at Stephen F. Austin State University presents a full performance of G.F. Handel’s great oratorio, “Messiah,” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 8, in Cole Concert Hall in the Wright Music Building on the SFA campus.

Dr. Tim King, director of choral activities in the SFA School of Music, will conduct Handel’s best-known work. The performance will showcase many of King’s colleagues as soloists.

“For 40 years, I have been blessed to work with the most talented voice teachers that you will find anywhere,” King said. “Not only are they great teachers, but they are fantastic performers willing to share their talent. This fulfills the charge of an educator – to do whatever it takes to make our student performances musical, exciting and meaningful.”

Soloists include Joshua Chavira, Houston graduate student, countertenor; and faculty members Debbie Berry, soprano; Charlotte Davis, soprano; Ric Berry, tenor; and Scott LaGraff, bass. SFA faculty and guest string players from the Dallas and Houston areas will also perform.

Chavira completed his bachelor’s degree in music education at SFA in 2016 and will complete his master’s degree in choral conducting in 2018. He holds a position as a graduate assistant in the College of Fine Arts. He is a performing member of the A Cappella Choir and Madrigal Singers and holds membership in Mu Phi Epsilon and Pi Kappa Lambda. He has performed in SFA’s opera productions singing in the chorus for “La Traviata,” as King Kaspar in “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” and as Lippo Fiorentino in “Street Scene.”

LaGraff, a baritone, has sung leading and supporting roles with such companies as Tri-Cities Opera, Syracuse Opera, Pensacola Opera, Tulsa Opera and Opera East Texas. He has also appeared as a concert soloist with the East Texas, Syracuse and Baton Rouge symphonies, as well as the Syracuse Oratorio Society, the Canterbury Choral Society in Oklahoma City and at Carnegie Hall with MidAmerica Productions. LaGraff’s first CD, “Songs by Stephen Lias, Michael Patterson and Lee Hoiby,” was released by Centaur Records in 2009, and a second CD, “Incline Thine Ear and Other Sacred Songs,” also with Centaur, is schedule for release April 7. A native of Athens, Ohio, he holds degrees from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, SUNY-Binghamton and Louisiana State University. LaGraff joined SFA’s faculty in 2004, after having taught at Simpson College and Cornell University.

Davis, a native of Tucson, Arizona, holds a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from the University of Arizona and a Master of Arts degree in vocal performance from SFA. Her stage experience includes roles in productions of “The Tales of Hoffmann,” “A Little Night Music,” “Susannah,” “Albert Herring” and “The Impresario.” She performs regularly in the East Texas area, and has performed at SFA as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis,” Handel’s “Messiah” and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Hodie.”

Richard Berry, tenor, is professor of music and dean of the Graduate School at SFA. He has taught at the University of Kansas, the University of Denver and the University of Texas at San Antonio. He has performed as a soloist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, the Denver Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of Santa Fe, the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, the Central City Singers, the Great Falls Symphony Orchestra, the Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society, the Valley Symphony Orchestra, the Longview Opera Company and the San Antonio Choral Society. He holds degrees from Kilgore College, SFA and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Debbie Berry, soprano, is a native of Wichita Falls. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in voice performance from SFA. After a teaching stint at Wayland University, she moved to Kansas City where she did post-graduate work at the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Her performance credits include solos with the Kansas City Philharmonic, the Kansas City Civic Orchestra, the Longview Opera Repertory Company, the Central City Singers (of the Central City Opera House Association), and regular appearances as a recitalist in Denver, Kansas City and East Texas. Among her operatic roles are as Violetta in “La Traviata,” Donna Anna in “Don Giovanni,” Musetta in “La Boheme,” Baby Doe in “The Ballad of Baby Doe,” Rosina in “The Barber of Seville,” the Witch in “Hansel and Gretel,” and Gilda in “Rigoletto.” Her oratorio repertoire includes the soprano solos in Mozart’s “Requiem,” Brahms’ “Ein deutches Requiem,” Orff’s “Carmina Burana,” and Haydn’s “The Creation.” She has performed extensively in musical comedy: Widow Corney in ‘Oliver,” Maria in “The Sound of Music,” Sarah Brown in “Guys and Dolls,” Julie Jordan in “Carousel,” Eliza Doolittle in “My Fair Lady,” Hodel in “Fiddler on the Roof,” Fiona McLaren in “Brigadoon,” Magnolia in “Show Boat,” and Lilly in “Kiss Me Kate.”

Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $5 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.