Everything Nac

The SFA Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra of the Pines) at Stephen F. Austin State University will perform under the baton of its new conductor, Dr. Gregory Grabowski, at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 14, in Cole Concert Hall on the university campus.

Among the selections on the program are Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy” and Leonard Bernstein’s “Symphonic Dances” from “West Side Story.” The concert also features a performance by Alina Nebzhidovskaia, one of the three winners of the School of Music’s recent concerto competition, on Alexander Glazunov’s Violin Concerto.

Grabowski joined the School of Music this semester as director of orchestral activities. He comes to SFA from Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, where he conducted the Susquehanna University Orchestra and musical theatre performances. He began his career in the public schools of Frisco ISD. Grabowski has led the Richardson Symphony, Flower Mound Symphony, Lewisville Lake Symphony, Bakersfield Symphony, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra and the Fairbanks Festival Orchestra. He holds degrees from the University of North Texas and Southern Methodist University.

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.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre will present Sarah DeLappe’s play “The Wolves” at 7:30 nightly through Saturday, Oct. 5, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus. A finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, “The Wolves” is a coming-of-age play that follows the daily routines and conversations of nine girls on a soccer team who deal with big problems and tiny battles on the field and in life. In a scene from ‘The Wolves’ are, from left, Bridgeport freshman Elora Rogers; Irving senior Kathleen McNamara, Lufkin sophomore Britney Day (background); and Richmond senior Harsa Rutherford. Single tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and non-SFA students and $7.50 for youth. Tickets for SFA students are $5. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.theatre.sfasu.edu. The play is recommended for mature audiences.

Emily Brebach, English horn with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, will perform a guest oboe and English horn recital at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, in Cole Concert Hall on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus.

The recital is part of the School of Music’s Friends of Music Concert Series and will showcase works by Eugène Bozza, Charles Koechlin, Maurice Ravel and Alyssa Morris, among others.

Three of the program pieces are French. Bozza’s “Divertissement” translates to “fun” or “entertainment,” while Koechlin’s “Au Loin” translates to “far away” or “far off.” Ravel’s “Pavane pour une infante defunte” translates to “Pavane for a Dead Princess.” These three French works are considered old favorites of the English horn repertoire.

“Chrysalis for English Horn and Piano” was written by living composer Alyssa Morris. Each movement of this piece represents a different stage of metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly. The music is fun for the performer and audience alike, according to Brebach.

Joining the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as English horn and oboe in the fall of 2012, Brebach has performed with orchestras throughout the United States, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Kansas City Symphony and the Houston Symphony. She is an artist affiliate instructor of oboe at Emory University and a faculty member of the Atlanta Symphony’s Talent Development Program, and she maintains an active private studio. Brebach also presents master classes and reed-making seminars at music schools across the country. She spends her summers in residence at the Brevard Music Center in Brevard, North Carolina, as English horn and oboe as well as artist faculty, and also as English horn at the Grand Teton Music Festival.

Saturday’s recital 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.

Brebach’s recital is part of a larger guest artist residency, which includes master classes. On Sunday, Oct. 13, she will join SFA’s Dr. Abby Y. Held, faculty oboe in the School of Music, in presenting Oboe Etude Workshop Day from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Music Recital Hall. In addition to working with SFA student oboe musicians, the presenters invite high school oboe students for a free workshop designed to help them master their All-State oboe etudes.

“This is a free event open to high school oboists who are preparing All-State audition etudes, or working on etudes in their own personal studies,” said Held, who will also present the clinic “Dealing With Nerves” during the workshop. Participants may register for Oboe Etude Workshop Day by contacting Held at helday@sfasu.edu. Held promises “surprises and prizes” at the workshop.