SFA's Music Prep Division busy with open house, fall registration, workshops

Jonah Raychev, son of Drs. Jennifer Dalmas and Evgeni Raychev, preforms as a violin student in the Music Preparatory Division of the SFA School of Music. Registration is underway for fall classes, and forms are available on the Music Prep website.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - A number of exciting events are on the horizon within the Music Preparatory Division of the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music.

A Music Prep Open House will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Aug. 20, at 3028 Raguet St. Prep faculty will be present to talk with parents and children about private and group lessons. Emily Mitchell, harp instructor for both Music Prep and the School of Music, will perform at the open house.

Registration has begun for fall classes, and registration forms are available on the Prep website at www.music.sfasu.edu/prep. Private lessons are available in piano, voice, flute, violin, cello, guitar, composition, trumpet, clarinet, saxophone, horn, harp and euphonium. A new option this fall allows payment in four separate installments, according to Pat Barnett, Music Prep director.

"This option makes it more convenient for families to budget their children's music education," Barnett said.

The fall program begins the week of Aug. 22. Students may enroll for 16 private lessons or 12 private lessons for the semester. Also offered are the Piney Woods Youth Orchestra, the Adult Piano Class and the Choristers. Orchestra auditions will be held during the open house. Dr. Evgeni Raychev, director, asks that interested students bring one solo piece that best represents their technical and musical ability.

In a new initiative this fall, the School of Music and Music Preparatory Division will offer a Music Teachers Workshop on Saturday, Sept. 10, for those teaching in elementary, middle or high schools. Participants will receive six continuing education credits upon completion. The workshop is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Wright Music Building on the SFA campus. Tuition is $50, and registration forms are available on the Music Prep website.

For the third year and back by popular demand, Music Prep will host the Middle School All Region Choir Camp for schools in Region 21 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, in the Wright Music Building. Students who have attended the camp in previous years are from Tyler, Whitehouse, Palestine, Carthage, Lufkin, Bullard and Nacogdoches middle schools.

Both the Music Teachers Workshop and the Middle School All Region Choir Camp are fundraising events for the Music Prep program to raise money for scholarships for students desiring to pursue the study of music, Barnett said.

The Music Prep office is open from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For additional information, contact Barnett at (936) 468-1291 or at musicprep@sfasu.edu. Visit the Facebook site at SFA Music Prep.