Everything Nac

Dr. Jenna Sehmann, assistant professor of oboe and music history at Stephen F. Austin State University, will present the concert “Postcards from America” at 6 p.m. Sunday, March 24, in Cole Concert Hall, Wright Music Building, on the SFA campus.

Built around Susan Kander’s work “Postcards from America,” the program features American musical works with connections to postcards or written letters to others. Co-collaborator on the program is Eunjin Bang, collaborative pianist at SFA, with Zeke Bocklage, visiting professor of theatre, and Nita Hudson, voice lecturer, also performing.

“My academic research is focused on the connections between words and instrumental music,” Sehmann said. “Usually I perform pieces inspired by literature. I thought it would be different to instead focus on letters, or postcards, one person speaking to another. I also like to include unique performance aspects, so I’m excited to have two SFA faculty members collaborating as dramatic narrators for two of the pieces.”

“Postcards from America” tells the story of an immigrant who comes to America during the industrial revolution to find work in New York City. Each movement is a postcard to his family in Europe. Bocklage is the featured narrator.

“The work starts out hopeful, as the immigrant has just arrived in the ‘Land of Opportunity,'” Sehmann said. “The later movements become much more grim as the immigrant grapples with the realities of factory work, all while still trying to maintain a positive front for his family.

“This work interested me as I’m always looking for interdisciplinary compositions,” she adds. “The ‘postcard’ is read preceding each movement, and sometimes the words are optimistic while the music tells a different story.”

“Wishful Thinking” for English horn and piano is composer Kincaid Rabb’s “postcard” to the world amid the 2020 pandemic. Sehmann was part of a consortium to commission the work in 2020 and premiered the piece that year. “Performing this piece again in 2024 is interesting,” she said, “as Kincaid’s words of hoping for a different world post-pandemic seem very distant today.”

The concert also features “My Dearest Ruth” by Stacy Garrop, which was commissioned by Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s sons in 2013. The text comes from her husband Martin Ginsberg’s last letter to her.

“Garrop arranged this work for oboe and piano at my request earlier this year, and this is the world premiere of the oboe version,” Sehmann said. “While the words aren’t present during this version, the audience will hear an audio clip of Ginsberg reciting the letter before the performance.”

Hudson narrates on “Why else do you have an English horn?” by Christopher Berg. An interdisciplinary work for English horn and actress, the piece was originally written for the stage actress Elaine Stritch. Based on poems by V.R. Lang, it is a conversation between the actress with the English horn responding.

Admission to the concert is free. For additional information, contact the SFA School of Music at (936) 468-4602.

The A Cappella Choir at Stephen F. Austin State University will present “Light of a Clear Blue Morning,” an eclectic program of secular, sacred and popular music, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 23, in Cole Concert Hall, Wright Music Building, on the SFA campus.

Conducted by Dr. Michael Murphy, director of choral activities at SFA, the choir will be joined by Eunjin Bang, collaborative pianist, and Dr. Nathan Nabb, saxophone and director of the School of Music, to perform on the concert, which also features the talents of graduate conducting students Joe Alvear of Brownsville, Katie Bulen of San Antonio, Desteni Granston of Houston and Emily LeBlanc of Montgomery.

“The messages inspired by the texts presented in this concert have long served as hope and inspiration for both secular and sacred audiences,” Murphy said. “‘Light of a Clear Blue Morning’ was written and recorded by longtime popular entertainer Dolly Parton, who wrote the song to figuratively describe clouds lifting as the result of her many sacrifices of the previous hard years paying off.”

Another piece on the program, Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird,” written for The Beatles, was composed to show solidarity for those who faced discrimination in the Civil Rights Movement.

The concert also features choral music composed by Edward Elgar, William Byrd, John Ratledge, Craig Hella Johnson, Johannes Brahms and more.

Concert tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. To purchase tickets, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit finearts.sfasu.edu. For additional information, contact the SFA School of Music at (936) 468-4602.

Dr. Jamie Vilseck, percussion faculty at Stephen F. Austin State University, will present a concert featuring Joseph Schwantner’s landmark work “Velocities” at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 21, in Cole Concert Hall, Wright Music Building, on the SFA campus.

Vilseck’s repertoire for this concert includes “challenging literature covering a breadth of percussion instruments,” he said.

“The goal of the recital is to appropriately challenge myself, expand my repertoire, utilize various technology, and explore music that represents composers of diverse backgrounds,” Vilseck said. “Performed together, this group of pieces represents virtuosity, expression and a healthy selection of modern music.”

An intense moto perpetuo for marimba, “Velocities” was one of three pieces composed by non-percussionists as part of a commissioning grant in 1986 with the purpose of bringing attention to the potential of the marimba as a solo concert instrument.

“At the time of its composition, solo marimba literature was still greatly developing,” Vilseck said. “‘Velocities’ has stood the test of time and remains as one of the most prominent works for solo marimba.”

Another work that will be known by some audience members is “The Swan” by Camille Saint-Saëns. A movement of his well-known work “The Carnival of the Animals,” “The Swan” was arranged for solo vibraphone by Vilseck.

“It was a project that was originally started during COVID lockdowns, and I recently pulled it back out, refined and prepared it for performance,” he said. “The long flowing melodies of the cello part along with the light piano accompaniments from the original work translate well to the vibraphone.”

Other works on the concert include “Seven to Queens” by Andrew Beall; “Nostalgia” by Vincent Ho; “Ghost in the Machine” by Amy Beth Kirsten; and “What I Know” by Connor Shafran.

Concert tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. To purchase tickets, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit finearts.sfasu.edu. For additional information, contact the SFA School of Music at (936) 468-4602.