Everything Nac

Start the new year off on the right note with the multi-Dove Award-winning and two-time Grammy-nominated family of gospel singers, The Isaacs, when they perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus.

A special Encore Event presented by the College of Fine Arts and its University Series, the concert is sponsored in part by BancorpSouth. The Isaacs have an inspirational style that blends tight harmonies with contemporary acoustic instrumentation to produce a sound that appeals to audiences all over the world, according to Scott Shattuck, associate dean of the College of Fine Arts and director of the University Series and Encore Events.

“The Isaacs are some of the most popular southern gospel singers in the world, and their music is revered by experts in the genre,” Shattuck noted. “When we saw them last year on Reba McIntyre’s CMA Country Christmas special we feared that we might have missed our chance to get them to Nacogdoches, but they are looking forward to visiting the SFA campus for an evening of shimmering sound,” he continued.

The Isaacs began singing 35 years ago. The group includes mother Lily Isaacs and siblings Ben Isaacs, Sonya Isaacs Yeary and Rebecca Isaacs Bowman. Playing their own acoustic instruments and joined by other band members, The Isaacs’ distinctive style has been influenced by many genres of music including rhythm and blues, bluegrass and folk, as well as country, contemporary, acoustic and southern gospel.

Their unique mix of southern gospel and other sounds is heard regularly at the Grand Ole Opry, Carnegie Hall and CMA Fan Fest. The group’s 2018 appearance on ABC-TV’s CMA Country Christmas included a performance of “What Child Is This” with superstar McIntyre, and they recorded the same song with her for her album “My Kind of Christmas.”

Prior to the show, Andre Simon, minister of music at First Baptist Church in Nacogdoches, will present an informational talk at 7 p.m. in Griffith Gallery. The gallery is located across the hall from Turner Auditorium, which is inside the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive. The audience is invited back to the gallery for a post-performance reception to honor the show’s corporate sponsor, BancorpSouth.

Encore Event tickets are: adult $45/36/27; senior $36/29/21; youth $18/14/11; SFA student $3. All seating is reserved. Pricing is based on seating (section A/B/C). Discounts are also available for SFA faculty and staff members.

For more information, visit finearts.sfasu.edu, stop by the Box Office in Room 211 of the Griffith Fine Arts Building, or call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS.