Everything Nac

The Cole Performing Arts Series at Stephen F. Austin State University will present music faculty members Christina Guenther and Ron Petti performing a flute and piano recital at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

Guenther is professor of flute at SFA, and Petti is professor and director of accompanying.

The program includes Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s Sonata for Flute and Piano, which is a three-movement work. Hummel, an Austro-Hungarian composer and pianist, crosses over the Classical and Romantic periods, which can be heard in the piece, according to Guenther.

“Classical scale patterns meet Romantic harmonies and colors,” she said.

The concert will feature San Francisco-based composer Kyle Hovatter’s “by a spirit of uselessness.” The composer describes the work as “a spirited dance with a fun groove.”

The second part of the concert opens with French composer Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for Flute and Piano, another three-movement work with “lovely tone colors, singing melodies and fun energy,” Guenther said. The Coolidge Foundation commissioned the piece in 1957.

The program closes with New York-based composer Francis Poulenc’s “Airborne.”

“This work has a fun, jazzy feel, is high in energy with several mood changes, and will be a crowd pleaser,” Guenther said.

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.

Dr. Rajat Mishra, assistant professor in Stephen F. Austin State University’s Rusche College of Business, recently traveled to his home country of Nepal to help recruit international students to attend SFA.

Mishra presented at the United States Education Foundation, which is an organization administering educational exchange activities between Nepal and the U.S. and providing information about American higher education opportunities. He also spoke at the Institute of Engineering at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, Nepal, which is where Mishra earned a Bachelor of Science in engineering.

“Speaking at these venues provided me with a sense of fulfillment by talking about SFA, and it gave me the opportunity to rethink and revisit some of the reasons why I chose SFA many years ago,” Mishra said.

At USEF, Mishra discussed SFA’s academic programs, inviting community, opportunities and affordability. He also held a question-and-answer session about SFA’s colleges, majors and departments. While visiting the institute, he discussed research opportunities and SFA’s Master of Business Administration program.

Mishra, Dr. Tim Bisping, dean of SFA’s Rusche College of Business, and Heather Catton, director of SFA’s Office of International Programs, organized this endeavor.