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SFA to Present Orchestra's 'Musical Portraits' Concert
Sylvia Bierschenk - April 7, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - The Orchestra of the Pines will close its 2007-2008 season with "Musical Portraits" at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 19, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University.
Gene H. Moon, the music director of the regional orchestra, said the concert's title refers to two of the pieces on the program: Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" and Bedrich Smetana's "Moldau."
Mussorgsky wrote "Pictures at an Exhibition" in honor of his dear friend, painter and architect Victor Hartmann, Moon explained. The setting portrays the composer walking through an exhibition of 10 of Hartmann's sketches.
Smetana's work, named for the river which flows through Prague, captures the many elements of Bohemian music and culture, including folk songs, hunting horns and even a peasant wedding, Moon continued. "Both are musical portraits of picturesque settings."
"I am excited about performing these cornerstones of the orchestral repertoire," Moon said. "And I am equally excited about our guest artist, SFA Associate Professor Christopher Ayer, who will join the orchestra in presenting Carl Weber's 'Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F Minor.'"
"Chris is a fantastic clarinetist who brings virtuosity and musicality to every performance," Moon said. "It is a privilege to have someone of his caliber in Nacogdoches."
Ayer, a native of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, coordinates undergraduate and graduate clarinet study at SFA, performs with the Stone Fort Wind Quintet and Orchestra of the Pines and is an active recitalist. He has presented clarinet clinics and been an adjudicator throughout the United States and Canada. In July 2005, he presented a lecture recital at the International Clarinet Conference in Tokyo, Japan.
Ayer earned his doctoral degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and his master's in clarinet performance from the New England Conservatory. Prior to his appointment at SFA, he taught at Eastern New Mexico University where he also served as the orchestra conductor.
The concert is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Music. It is sponsored in part by Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital and the Wedgeworth-Wright Endowment for the Arts. Cole Concert Hall is located at 2210 Alumni Drive.
Tickets are $15 for adult, $12 for seniors and $5 for students. For tickets or more information, please call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS, or purchase tickets on-line.