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Dr. Deb Scott, professor of trombone and bass trombone at Stephen F. Austin State University, will perform works by living composers in a recital at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

Works of two prominent women composers, including Ida Gotkovsky and Elizabeth Raum, will be featured along with works by Ben Morris, SFA’s new composition faculty member, and by Canadian composer Michalis Andronikou.

Joining Scott on the concert will be colleagues Dr. Thomas Nixon, collaborative pianist; Dr. Carlos Gaviria, contrabass; Dr. Scott LaGraff, baritone voice; and SFA graduate student Martha Jhoana, harp.

Raum’s “The Secret of Ben Søgen for Trombone and Piano” was composed in 2019 and is “a beautiful and lyrical piece portraying the journey of a mythological character,” according to Scott.

Concerto pour Trombone et Orchestre by Gotkovsky is a well-known concerto for trombone. Scott performed the work last August with an orchestra at the Trombonanza Festival in Argentina.

Scott describes “In Memoriam Theodore Antoniou” for harp and trombone by Andronikou as “a lovely lyrical piece that blends the harp and trombone in beautiful ways.”

“If You Give a Moose a Muffin” for baritone voice, bass trombone and upright bass, written by SFA’s Morris, is based on the text of a popular children’s book by Laura Joffe Numeroff. Originally composed to be performed for children, the piece uses fun effects and mutes to bring the story to life.

Scott is a performing artist for Rath Trombones, England, and is active worldwide as a soloist and clinician. She is the director of the Composers Workshop for the International Trombone Festival and a recent member of Monarch Brass. Scott’s solo CD, “Playing Favorites,” was released in 2017 by Navona Records. She has twice been a featured soloist and faculty member in Santa Fe, Argentina, at Trombonanza, the largest brass festival in South America.

Recital 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.

The Singin’ Axes and Kantorei choirs at Stephen F. Austin State University will welcome Fort Worth ISD Lone Star Youth Chorus and its director, Jesse Cannon II, along with other guests to perform in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27, in Cole Concert Hall on the university campus.

The program, “Holding the Light: A Black History Month Celebration” will feature works by Robert Ray, B.E. Boykin and Marques L.A. Garrett, according to Dr. Tod Fish, associate director of choral activities at SFA and Singin’ Axes and Kantorei director.

“Black History Month is an important part of our country’s social fabric and deserves to be celebrated,” Fish said. “The concert features musical compositions and the poetry of African American artists. ‘Holding the Light’ is a powerful poem by Stuart Kestenbaum that speaks of love and light repairing the brokenness of the world. It resonates with today’s society.”

The choirs will be joined by SFA faculty members Dr. Thomas Nixon and Maggie Hinchliff, collaborative pianists, and Dr. J.D. Salas, bass guitar; Ryan Herriage, graduate conductor from Sulphur Springs; and SFA School of Music alumni Frances Teal and Jay Teamer, guest soloists.

The featured work on the concert is Ray’s “Gospel Mass,” performed by the Kantorei and Singin’ Axes combined choirs. “Dr. Ray ingeniously takes the movements of the Roman Catholic Mass and composes it in a gospel musical style,” Fish said. The musical talents of Teal, Teamer and Salas are showcased on this work.

The combined SFA and Fort Worth ISD choirs will sing Boykin’s “Holding the Light,” a work that “displays a lovely piano accompaniment with simple melodic and harmonic material that clearly conveys the complex societal issues present in the text,” Fish said.

In the concert’s finale, the combined choirs will sing the classic spiritual, “Soon I Will Be Done,” in which Garrett’s setting uses “driving rhythm and colorful harmonies” to build energy throughout the piece, according to Fish. Cannon, who serves as vocal division vice president of the Texas Music Educators Association and director of vocal and elementary music for Fort Worth ISD, will conduct the combined choirs for the finale.

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.

The Stephen F. Austin State University Board of Regents celebrated Presidents Day by officially electing Dr. Steve Westbrook the 10th president of the university. Here, Westbrook signs the Bible all previous SFA presidents signed before him while surrounded by his family: wife, Dayna, and sons, from left to right, Reed and Bryce. In addition to friends, family and past regents, Dr. William R. Johnson, SFA’s fourth president, and relatives of the late Dr. Baker Pattillo, SFA’s eighth president, attended the board meeting. Westbrook will serve until his retirement May 31. He is not a candidate for the 11th president’s position.

The Stephen F. Austin State University DeWitt School of Nursing held its inaugural Nursing Leadership Conference Feb. 3 to inspire emerging leaders in the field through dynamic speakers, career placement vendors and an SFA alumni panel discussion.

The conference hosted fourth-semester nursing students, as well as nursing students from Panola College in Carthage.

“It’s an exciting time in the nursing profession, but there are also unique challenges,” said Shelley Hunt, coordinator of SFA’s registered nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. “The Nursing Leadership Conference gave nursing students the opportunity to learn from amazing leaders in our region. I enjoyed interacting with the participants, and I’m excited for future conferences to involve even more students from additional programs.”

Speakers at the conference included Paul Smith, a 40-year veteran of the financial services industry; Bryant Krenek, retired CEO of the Memorial Health System of East Texas; Bonnie Dubin, director of recruiting, development and engagement for the Willis-Knighton Health System; and Teresa Halcomb, chief nurse executive for Christus Good Shepherd Health System.

Speakers delivered presentations on such topics as unity, leadership, effective communication and nurse roles.

The alumni panel featured four SFA graduates, all of whom attained their Bachelor of Science in Nursing and are registered nurses. They included Jordan Bass Jones, home health nurse at Pineywoods Home Health Care; Matthew Malloy, director of operations at Nacogdoches Memorial Professional Group; Dari Pierce, former labor and delivery nurse, surgical and anesthesia recovery nurse, and current clinical coordinator at SFA; and Kristen Shields, emergency room nurse at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Henderson and Christus Good Shepherd Medical Center of Longview.

“The event was a huge success given the students’ overwhelmingly positive feedback,” said Christopher Ryan, SFA associate professor and co-coordinator of the event. “I am truly delighted to be able to offer different perspectives on leadership from experienced leaders within our region. We hope to expand and develop new experiences during future conferences that will further impart wisdom to future nursing leaders.”

Students in attendance at the conference gained new perspectives on leadership.

“The speakers gave true insight on what it meant to be a leader in the profession that we are pursuing and did it in an interactive way,” said Tiffany Wells, SFA senior nursing student. “Besides the amazing speakers, it was incredibly helpful to go around and talk to the different employers during our break and hear what they had to offer.”

Participants also had the opportunity to get some advice on leadership positions in the nursing field.

“I have always had an interest in leadership, and I really loved getting to talk to several people who’ve been in those positions before,” said Ainslie Sylvest, SFA senior nursing student. “It was very beneficial to be able to learn what it takes to make a great leader as well as hearing advice for how to get to those roles.”

Learn more about SFA’s School of Nursing at sfasu.edu/nursing.

By Alyssa Faykus, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.