SFA Trombone Choir to perform music of Lias, Writer, Nehlybel

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Four guest percussionists will be featured when the Trombone Choir at Stephen F. Austin State University performs at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

Performing with the choir, which is directed by Dr. Deb Scott, professor of trombone in the SFA School of Music, are student percussionists Ethan Ainsworth, Trevor McCulley, Chris Williamson and Austen White.

Among the program selections is Sequoia by Stephen Lias, professor of composition in the School of Music. The piece is among a series of works Lias has written in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. “Sequoia” was written for Scott and the SFA Trombone Choir. It premiered at the 2010 International Trombone Association Conference in Austin

Also on the program is “Torque” by Justin Writer, associate professor of composition and music theory at the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley. Scott described the piece as “very lively with lots of surprising rhythms, very fun and intense to listen to.”

“Tower Music” by Vaclav Nehlybel is a standard literature for trombone choir, and Scott selected it for the program in anticipation of the restoration of SFA’s carillon set in the Griffith Fine Arts Building, which will be completed in January.

“I am very excited about the upcoming restoration of the carillon, and it made me think of this wonderful piece for trombone choir,” she said.

Scott will perform “Amazing Grace,” arranged by Irv Wager. Ben Kelly, drum major of the Lumberjack Marching Band, will conduct.

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.