Everything Nac

Future college students will have the opportunity to experience a taste of campus life during a free, action-packed open-house Saturday, March 25, at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches.

Prospective students will have the opportunity to visit with university faculty and staff members, tour the campus and residence halls, and preview academic programs during the SFA Showcase Saturday event.

“There is no better time than Showcase Saturday to visit the beautiful SFA campus and witness firsthand what it’s like to be a Lumberjack,” said Jessica Maynard, assistant director of SFA’s Office of Admissions.

“Guests are encouraged to visit one-on-one with our faculty members to learn more about our quality, personalized academic programs, and our staff members will be available to answer questions about everything from admission requirements to financial aid to residence life,” Maynard added.

SFA is a comprehensive, residential university located in the heart of Texas Forest Country. Approximately 13,000 students attend SFA, which is within a few hours’ drive of Texas’ major metropolitan areas.

Showcase Saturday event registration will begin at 11:45 a.m. on the first floor of the Baker Pattillo Student Center and will remain open until 12:45 p.m. Each person who registers will receive an information packet. The opening program begins at 12:45 p.m. and will provide an overview of the day’s events.

Guests will then be able to visit with representatives of the academic departments until 4 p.m. at the Academic Fair in the Student Recreation Center. A Student Services Fair will be held from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on the first floor of the Baker Pattillo Student Center.

Campus and residence hall tours will begin at 1:30 p.m. and continue until 5 p.m. Campus tours will take students on a guided walk of the SFA campus, while the self-guided residence hall tours will showcase several halls on both the north and south ends of campus.

Admissions counselors will be available to discuss admission procedures and requirements from 1:30 to 5 p.m. in the Rusk Building, Room 206, and at several freshman and transfer admissions sessions held throughout the day.

Financial aid information sessions will be held at 2:30, 3:15 and 4 p.m. in the Baker Pattillo Student Center’s Twilight Ballroom. Residence Life information sessions will be held at 2:30, 3:15 and 4 p.m. in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Theater on the second floor.

Participating prospective students will receive a free SFA T-shirt after completing an evaluation form in the tent located in the courtyard area of the Rusk Building.

For more information about SFA’s Showcase Saturday, contact the SFA Office of Admissions at (936) 468-2504 or email admissions@sfasu.edu.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre will present the student-directed, one-act play “Twister” by SFA Playwright-In-Residence Jack Heifner at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 31, and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 1, in the Downstage Theatre on the SFA campus.

McAllen senior Pedro Adan Dominguez is the director, and he describes “Twister” as the story of a couple that survives a destructive natural disaster to find that their dreams for the future have been very different.

Characters Betty and Roy are apparently the only survivors of a tornado, which has destroyed their tiny Texas town and all their belongings. After the initial shock wears off, Roy sets about trying to restore their lives, while Betty, suddenly freed from all possessions, wants to move on and start over, according to Dominguez.

The resulting debate is both hilarious and revealing, as Roy resists the notion that what they had was nothing great, while Betty pours out hopes and frustrations that she has bottled up for years, Dominguez explains. In the end, it is the dream that triumphs: Betty charges off to catch a bus that may never arrive, and Roy attempts to hold on to the present that is fast becoming the past.

The cast includes Plano junior Cecily Maucieri as Betty, and Sour Lake sophomore Ian Ritchey as Roy.

The production staff includes Gabriel Penaloza-Hernandez, Austin junior, stage manager; Victoria Medrano, Edinburg junior, scenic designer; Chelsea Rodrigue, Maypearl junior, costume designer; Danika Pettyjohn, Fort Worth senior, lighting designer; Jessica Tinker-Akers, Marshall graduate student, sound designer; and Angel Williams, Beaumont senior, properties master.

Dominguez is a B.F.A. acting and directing candidate. He recently directed “Beautiful Noises” by Scott C. Sickles and was assistant director for “Really Really” by Paul Downs Colaizzo. He recently performed the roles of Lyncoya/ensemble in “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” and Andrew (age 5) in “Why Do We Laugh?” He plans to begin his B.F.A. internship in fall 2017 and graduate in spring 2018.

Faculty production advisor is Scott Shattuck.

Tickets are $4. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit theatre.sfasu.edu. The Downstage Theatre is located in the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive.

The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and School of Music will present the Rockin’ Axes performing “The History of Rock” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 30, in the Twilight Ballroom of the Baker Pattillo Student Center on the SFA campus.

The high-energy concert will feature music originally recorded by rock and pop favorites Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind and Fire and others, according to Andrew Sperandeo, director of the Rockin’ Axes groups.

“We have been progressively going through every decade, starting in the 1950s, since this ensemble’s inception,” Sperandeo said. “This semester, I decided we would essentially do some of the best charts from every semester, tailor-made for the current instrumentation, as a ‘greatest hits’ semester, which, in turn, really is the ‘history of rock’ from the ’50s through the ’80s.”

Sperandeo said every artist he chose to be represented in the concert “somehow revolutionized some parameter of music, either with their writing, instrumentation, crossing genres and even social norms.”

Among the program selections is Presley’s “Love Me Tender.” The song, recorded by Elvis in 1956, was written by Ken Darby and based on the old Civil War tune, “Aura Lee,” Sperandeo explained.

“I decided to arrange the ‘Cirque Du Soleil Viva Elvis’ version for the group because it is an absolutely beautiful arrangement not to be missed,” he said.

The Rockin’ Axes will also perform “Eleanor Rigby,” released by The Beatles in 1966.

“This has always been my favorite Beatles song,” Sperandeo said. “In my opinion, this song epitomized the music-writing philosophy The Beatles had during this time. The whole arrangement consists of a string quartet and vocals only, which demonstrates that you don’t always have to follow the norm and, as a writer/arranger, you should be willing to take chances.”

Sperandeo’s arrangement expands on this idea, incorporating a much larger ensemble to include brass, woodwinds and rock rhythm sections. “I also tried to stay true to the innovative process by including many rhythmic variations and dynamic interests,” he added.

Earth, Wind and Fire’s 1978 release of “September” is also on the program. Sperandeo’s arrangement took some ideas for the ending from the live version of this song where the band Chicago played along side Earth, Wind and Fire in a powerful performance, he said.

Jackson’s “Thriller,” written by Rod Temperton, has been a Rockin’ Axes crowd pleaser in previous concerts, and this performance will be no exception, Sperandeo said.

“Every song was carefully chosen to represent some specific characteristics that well defined music for each decade from the ’50s to the ’80s,” he said. “I believe this will be one of the best performances by these groups to date because of the diversity of the set lists. Come out enjoy all the great music we have in store!”

The Contemporary Ensemble will also perform several Stevie Wonder hits during the concert.

Admission is free. For more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

Another composition by Dr. Stephen Lias, professor of composition at Stephen F. Austin State University, will have its world premiere on a national stage when the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra performs it at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

“All the Songs that Nature Sings,” written as a commission for the Boulder Philharmonic with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, will premiere during “SHIFT: A Festival of American Orchestra.” The Kennedy Center and Washington Performing Arts are collaborating to present the inaugural SHIFT Festival from March 27 through April 1.

The new festival is designed to spotlight North American orchestras of all sizes. The event “celebrates the vitality, unique identity, and extraordinary artistry of orchestras by creating an immersive festival experience in the nation’s capital,” according to information at kennedy-center.org.

The Boulder Philharmonic will perform “All the Songs that Nature Sings” during Tuesday night’s festival performance, which begins at 8 p.m. “Music and Nature” is the program’s theme. The concert will also feature Jeff Midkiff’s “From the Blue Ridge,” Steve Heitzeg’s “Ghosts of the Grasslands” and Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring.”

In recent years, adventurer-composer Lias, who has been writing place-inspired compositions throughout his career, has written a sizable series of works about the national parks of the U.S. in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the National Park Service in 2016. He has served as artist-in-residence at Rocky Mountain, Glacier, Denali, Glacier Bay, Bering Land Bridge and Gates of the Arctic national parks. His park-related pieces have been performed throughout the U.S. and in Sydney and Taiwan. Last year, Lias released a CD of park-inspired chamber works titled “Encounters: Music Inspired by Our National Parks.”

“All the Songs that Nature Sings” was inspired by Rocky Mountain National Park, where Lias said he had the opportunity to “explore all its secret and inspiring corners, and deepen my relationship with this magical place” while serving as artist-in-residence there in 2010.

“So it was with great excitement that I accepted a commission in 2015 from the Boulder Philharmonic to write a new orchestral piece about Rocky as part of the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the National Park Service,” Lias said. “The resulting piece frames melodies written during my residency in 2010 with undulating and hypnotic textures reminiscent of rippling water, wind-swept grasses and fluttering aspen leaves.

“It is my hope that the listeners will have a vicarious wilderness experience through this work,” he added, “and that those who know the park well will recognize the voice of a familiar friend.”

One of the principal melodies in the piece was borrowed from a previous piece Lias wrote for Rocky Mountain National Park and premiered by Dr. Gary Wurtz, director of the SFA School of Music, titled “The Timberline Sonata.”

The grant the Boulder Philharmonic received for this commissioning was among the NEA’s “Imagine Your Parks” grants specifically aimed at events associated with the NPS centennial.

Lias will host a composer talk prior to the Kennedy Center performance of the new piece. The performance will be accompanied by choreographed nature photography provided courtesy of Rocky Mountain National Park and synchronized by Lias.

Lias’ music is regularly performed in concerts and recitals across the U.S. and abroad.

For more information about Lias and his work, visit www.stephenlias.com

The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and School of Music will present the Stone Fort Wind Quintet in a recital at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

This SFA music faculty chamber ensemble features Christina Guenther, flute; Kerry Hughes, oboe; Christopher Ayer, clarinet; Charles Gavin, horn; and Lee Goodhew, bassoon.

The program will include works by Jean-Philippe Rameau, Stacy Garrop, John R. Barrows and Carl Nielsen. Rameau’s “Gavotte with Six Doubles” is based on the Baroque dance form Gavotte, and each double features a member of the quintet. Barrows’ “March” for Woodwind Quintet is “a short, light, spirited march, sure to be a crowd pleaser,” according to ensemble member Guenther.

SFA bass instructor Carlos Gaviria will join the quintet for Garrop’s “Bohemian Café” for Woodwind Quintet and Bass. James Ginsburg, president of Cedille Records, asked Garrop to compose a piece in celebration of the label’s 25th anniversary and suggested writing it for a woodwind quintet with the addition of a double bass.

Of the piece, Garrop writes: “I employ the musicians in various groupings to portray different styles of music. I named the piece ‘Bohemian Café,’ for when I hear it, I picture myself sitting at an outdoor café in a plaza in Prague, drinking coffee, watching street musicians set up around the plaza, and listening to assorted strands of music wafting through the air.”

The concert will close with Nielsen’s Quintet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon, which Guenther described as “a huge standard and a favorite of all woodwind quintets.” The thickly orchestrated and at times playful first movement, Allegro ben moderato, presents recognizable, repeated themes and is followed by a lighter second movement, Menuet. The third and final movement, Praeludium, is an introduction, theme and variations. The introduction features an English Horn solo.

“The variations feature combinations or solo members of the ensemble and range from rich and lush to light and playful in character,” Guenther explained. “The piece as a whole uses brilliant instrument pairings in melodic ways and in accompaniment, providing a wide range of sound colors and moods.”

The concert is part of the Cole Performing Arts 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 (888) 240-ARTS or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

Dr. Patrick Manning, who serves as the Andrew W. Mellon Professor Emeritus of World History at the University of Pittsburg, will visit Stephen F. Austin State University this month for a reception and public lecture.

A former president of the American Historical Association, Manning is considered among the most prominent historians on African history, the African diaspora and global migrations. During his lecture, “The African Diaspora: Teaching About the Black Experience Worldwide,” Manning will discuss the African migration to the Americas, Europe and Asia during the past five centuries and how that migration has enriched cultures worldwide.

“The lecture combines stories of Black history in the Mississippi Valley, South America, Africa and Asia to provide a picture of conflict and change in the modern world,” Manning said.

SFA’s Department of History will host a reception for Manning from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, at the Old University Building located at 411 N. Mound St. Light refreshments will be served.

The lecture will take place beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 23, on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University, Dugas Liberal Arts North, Room 102.

For more information about the reception of lecture, contact Dr. Mark Barringer, chair of SFA’s Department of History, at mbarringer@sfasu.edu.