NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The 23rd annual Nacogdoches County's Opportunity for Better Learning Experience banquet will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 17, in the Grand Ballroom of the Baker Pattillo Student Center at Stephen F. Austin State University.

More than 250 students were invited to attend this year's banquet, which will honor Nacogdoches County high school seniors who chose a more rigorous recommended or distinguished program of study in their high school courses and completed a service project.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and School of Music will present the Orchestra of the Pines performing with the 2014 SFA Concerto/Aria winners in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 3, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

"Taking Center Stage" will feature SFA music students Cairee Mayfield, Carly Hood, Kyle Glavanovits, Lindsay Lymer and Susanna Campbell.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - A professor at Syracuse University earned first place for her entry in the "Refined VIII: Maker's Choice" exhibition on display through March 29 in the Reavley Gallery of The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

"Refined" is a biennial exhibition of jewelry and metalwork hosted by the art metals program in the School of Art at SFA since 1998, according to John Handley, director of art galleries at SFA.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin State University Model Arab League team received 12 awards during the 2014 Regional Model Arab League competition in Houston, winning the most awards of any team in the competition.

SFA's Kimberly Fruge' and Karina Erickson won best delegate awards on the Joint Defense Council, and their council won outstanding committee. SFA had six team members win individual speaker awards, as well.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art and the Friends of the Visual Arts will present a free, one-night screening of "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" at 7 p.m. Friday, March 7, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and School of Music will present the Choral Union and Women's Choir performing "Mass Hysteria" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 6, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The title of the concert was chosen because the ensembles will perform three Mass settings by Gabriel Faure, Emma-Lou Diemer and Franz Schubert, and a Sanctus from Leonard Bernstein's Mass, according to Tod Fish, visiting assistant professor and director of the Choral Union and Women's Choir.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and School of Music will present Geneva Fung and Friends faculty recital at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 4, in Cole Concert Hall in the Wright Music Building on the SFA campus.

Each year, the annual "Fung and Friends" concert has a theme, according to Geneva Fung, School of Music staff accompanist in piano. Last year's music was about animals.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The meaning of anything can be lost in translation. Rick Jones, professor of theatre at Stephen F. Austin State University, knows that well.

So when he decided to include Federico García Lorca's "Blood Wedding" in this year's School of Theatre's Mainstage Series and the College of Fine Arts' University Series, he knew that selecting the best translation for the Spanish-language play was critical to its success.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and School of Music will present the Swingin' Axes and Swingin' Aces jazz bands in concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, in Cole Concert Hall in the Wright Music Building on the SFA campus.

Under the direction of Dr. Gary Wurtz, professor of trumpet and jazz studies at SFA, the Swingin' Axes will perform Ray Brown's "Double Fault Blues," Gordon Goodwin's "Count Bubba" and "Act Your Age," Chick Corea's "500 Miles High" "and a burning arrangement of the jazz standard, 'Tenderly,'" Wurtz said.